


Book V: Avi's Family

by Draganonymous



Series: Avi's Angel [5]
Category: Avi Kaplan - Fandom, Pentatonix
Genre: Angels, Avriel, Demons, F/M, Happy Ending, Hatchlings, It's less complicated now, Light Angst, Triplets, Wedding, dragon-freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-04
Updated: 2019-12-08
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:35:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 24,486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21666043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Draganonymous/pseuds/Draganonymous
Summary: We finally get to "meet" the masterminds behind the attacks, and have a beautiful wedding, AND triplets!
Relationships: Avi Kaplan/OFC
Series: Avi's Angel [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/388660
Comments: 1





	1. Consequences

"T...two _weeks?"_ Angel cradled her flat stomach with both hands, already mourning the time she'd lost. Those two weeks were important to her. Not for the morning sickness, or the cravings, but for all the little things she'd missed with her other children. She'd lost two weeks of her husband making a fuss over the silliest things. Maybe he'd have sung to her stomach, not knowing that they couldn't hear it yet. They could've been browsing clothes in stores, and looking for additional cribs. Those were two fewer weeks they'd have to come up with names. It was also less time between their birthday and their big sister's, which was already going to be interesting to explain to people.  
"Aye, two. One for the spells ye cast to protect the place, and one for usin' 'em just now. I wasna sure earlier, but they're definitely not fresh planted. 'Tis difficult to know what dragon-in-human form gestation looks like--'less ye get to See it double, firsthand."  
"What do you mean, you watched it happen?" Mike asked.  
Gwinn glared at him. "I mean that I've got me own Othersight, and it doesn'a matter if she's a few hundred meters away, long's she's in line of Sight."  
She turned her stare on the young couple. "You'll lose a week for every spell like this, from what I've Seen. I canna say for smaller works, but I'd avoid it at any cost."  
"What if the cost is our lives?" she shot back.  
"Yours or theirs, lass. That's the choice you make."  
"You mean... they could die?" Avi gasped.  
Her arms uncrossed. "I simply do not know. It can't be good for their little bodies to grow so fecking fast, tha's fer sure!"  
They trudged back to the house, dispirited when they should've been celebrating her battle prowess. The baby wasn't happy about being left behind, but she provided a pleasant diversion, as all of the adults except Gwinn tried to cheer her up. The healer left, with another warning that Shelly heard, which required telling her what'd happened.  
"So she wasn't mad about the Shifting, just the magic?"  
Angel shook her head. "Makes sense, when you think about it. I mean, maybe it's the energy of Creation?" Her hair flopped around her face, sheepish in her ignorance. "Yeah, sure, let's use _that_ energy to fend off an army. That won't affect the ability to create life the old-fashioned way at _all_..." The last word was squeezed out on a long note, from a throat lifted to the ceiling.  
Avi put an arm across her shoulders, beneath the hair splayed across the back of the couch. "Hey, you didn't know. And besides, you said it yourself: that was an _army_. I'm not sure which I'd prefer, honestly. At least this way, they couldn't touch you." His other hand flattened against her abs. "Any of you."  
Her eyes weren't the only ones that shimmered with unshed tears. The baby patted her Papa's chest, like she'd seen Mama do. His hand moved on her tiny back, without seeming to notice.  
"All the same, you really do need to get the hang of Shifting," his mother admonished gently. "You heard her, she can't be doing the heavy lifting for much longer."  
Angel grumbled, which sounded startlingly draconic. She didn't like taking a backseat, but she was human enough to see the sense in it.  
"I don't think I'll be able to practice tomorrow, with everyone doing wedding prep, so... Should I try again today, or is it too much, too soon?" He looked between the dragons, to see if either of them knew.  
Angel deferred to Shelly, being younger and less experienced. Shelly reminded him of the mass quantities of food he'd need afterwards, if he Shifted twice in the same day.  
"We'd need to go shopping. Now, I don't know if that attack means it'll be safe for a while, or if there's going to be another one soon." Here, she looked to the more seasoned dragoness. While she was older, she'd mostly fended off more mundane threats in her youth. Demons and the like rarely bothered a dragon in its prime.  
"Come to think of it, why _would_ they attack a stronghold with _three_ dragons? Bad enough they'd attack _you_ , being what you are, but with two more dragons for backup? It doesn't make sense."  
Angel leaned forward, elbows to knees. She had a hunch, but she didn't want to tell them. In the end, she decided that knowledge was power.  
"They want you to think it's safe, for now."  
Mike spoke into the silence, asking the obvious, to prompt her to go on: "But it's not?"  
Angel's jaw worked, trying to find the most tactful way to warn them. She couldn't think of one, so she came at it sideways. "Let's just say that I'll have to be at the gate to greet everyone tomorrow. Personally."  
Avi remembered the man from room service who'd been possessed. "Why? Won't your barrier keep them out?"  
Mike misunderstood, of course, having the least experience with the supernatural. "So you'll have to, what, make a door in the barrier?"  
She shook her head. "Gwinn got in just fine, because she's... well, mostly human, but definitely not evil, or a threat."  
" _Mostly_ human?" he choked.  
Angel continued, as though her father-in-law hadn't just had his perception of the world shaken, yet again. "I set the parameters to deter anything that's inherently evil. They likely think that if they... hitchhike with someone who _isn't_ evil, they'll be able to sneak in."  
She met each of their eyes in turn, so they'd believe her words; forgetting that they knew she couldn't lie. "But that's not how it works. If they try that, the barrier should strip the hitchhiker from the... well, for lack of a better word, the vehicle."  
Shelly latched onto one key word: _"Should?"  
_ Angel nodded. "That's why I have to be there to meet them. If, for some reason, they've found a way to mask their presence from the shield (though I don't see how), I'm the only one who can See them." Her hands clenched atop her knees. She'd relied on instinct to carry her this far, but there was an awful lot of pressure on her shoulders. They were good, sturdy shoulders, but below them lay a timid heart. All of her hard-won confidence deserted her in the moments between battles.  
Avriel Felt her uncertainty. He knew she'd never admit to it, to keep him from worrying. It was sweet, in a way, but she had to learn to trust him to hold his own in their marriage. She often said she'd been Chosen with care, but she failed to realize that he'd _also_ been Chosen. He was beginning to think that she wasn't so much meant to protect him because of his musical talents, but because of what he was. He and his siblings were the last known dragons. He was the most likely to Shift--and he had--which made him a target.   
Ever since they'd gotten married, the attacks had become slightly more frequent, but today's wave tipped their hand. He couldn't help but notice that it was the same day they'd learned that there would be even more purebred dragons in the world. They were getting desperate.  
_:Yeah, and what monstrosities will they start breeding to even the odds? I don't like it. We're safe enough here, but what about when we leave? I can't Sanctify every patch of land we cross.:  
_ He didn't want to think about the things that could happen. The responsibility had suddenly shifted to his much narrower shoulders, and he was just as uncomfortable with it. At least she _could_ Shift in a pinch!  
She leaned into him, in mute support. _:I trust you. You'll get the hang of it. And if not...:_ She paused, staring off into the distance. _:There is a redundancy, but... you won't like it.:  
__:Do I want to know?:  
__:Probably not. Look, you'll be able to Shift when we need it, and that's what counts. Just... trust me, okay? We don't have time to get you combat ready, but maybe we won't have to..?:  
_ She didn't sound as optimistic as she thought she did. Even Menolly could sense her parents' disquiet. She patted them wherever her chubby arms could reach. Avi rubbed her back, the other hand on his wife's.  
"So what's the plan, then?" Mike asked. "Do we have people park outside the fence line, and walk in? I don't know how much space there is for that."  
Angel looked round to see if anyone had a better idea, but no one seemed to. "Well, when in doubt, consult Someone who knows more than we do," she said, leaning back with a grim expression. She tucked her legs up, feet clapped together, one knee on her husband's thigh. Her hands draped over her knees, tattoos facing up, eyes drifted shut; but not before they got a glimpse of misty grey.


	2. Holy Rain

The baby drifted off to sleep before her mother came back to the material world. The subtle glow from her tattoos dimmed as her eyes fluttered open. Her eyes blinked slowly, the grey dissipating to solid white, until her middle eyelids slid open. Avi hadn't known that she still had three pairs of eyelids, but he supposed, in retrospect, that their daughter had to have gotten them from somewhere.  
"Well?" Nobody wanted to disturb her, but they needed to know what she'd learned.  
Her head didn't turn toward Shelly, but her gaze did sharpen. "It will rain tomorrow. I am to seed the clouds with holy water before then. It won't catch everything, but it is the first line of defense. It will coat the cars, and enhance the shield's capabilities. As soon as the... temporarily holy metal touches the protections..." A savage grin stretched her lips, though her eyes remained detached, otherworldly. One word, spoken softly, in deference to her sleeping child, hissed through her teeth: _"zap!"_  
Her feet dropped to the floor, quiet as death. "I should go, while it's still light outside."  
Shelly stood with her. "With all due respect, why don't I go? If you give me the holy water, you don't have to Shift."  
A spark of the Angel he'd married flickered in her expression, then. No longer the confident, detached Angel, she'd returned to a much more... human version of herself. "I would, but, ah... can we talk outside for a minute?"  
The men shared a look, which the women ignored.  
"Of course."  
Angel let her precede her out the door. They took a few steps away from the house before Angel confided her secret.  
"It has to be me that goes. See, it's not, ah... traditional holy water." Her shoulders hunched with discomfort, and then the weight of her wings.  
"I make the holy water... It's my saliva."  
Shelly put a restraining hand on her shoulder. "I've got plenty of bottles in that house, you know. I can do it."  
Angel's eyes softened, while also remaining firm in her resolve. "I know you _can_ do it. The problem is, there's no way to know how much we'll need."  
A smile, far younger than her years, lit the elder dragon's face. "What if I carry you, and you do your thing?"  
Angel beamed as bright as a child conspiring mischief with another. "Mind if I keep the wings?"   
Shelly shook a finger at her, knowing how little effect it had. "As long as you don't do anything dangerous while we're up there."   
Angel crossed her heart. "I just want to stretch a bit." Her shoulders shifted restlessly. "They ache sometimes."   
Shelly nodded. She knew the old ache well. She winked. "Why d'you think I want to be the one who takes you up there?"   
The younger dragoness dropped down into a crouch. "Race you to the clouds?"   
A large bronze paw pinned her knee to the ground. "How 'bout no?" Angel hadn't known she could Shift so fast. She'd forgotten how long the dragoness had been alive.   
Shelly picked the smaller woman up and trotted out into her backyard. She was old enough to need a running start to get aloft, but not so old that she couldn't carry a passenger in the air.   
Angel took mental notes. The way she ran on her hind legs was little different from an airplane's wheels. The difference was, a plane didn't need to jump and flap to gain altitude.   
_:You know, it's funny. I used to hate heights. Even now, I think it's my own wings that are keeping me from freaking out.:  
_ Shelly felt a bit better about that little detail. She'd secretly feared that the younger dragoness doubted her abilities. Knowing why she'd insisted on keeping her wings eased the sting considerably.   
_:Yeah, that never feels good. Blech! Do you ever get used to that... bone shifting weirdness?:  
__:Hmm?:_ Shelly glanced down. _:Oh, the jaw? Anything with the skull is weird when you're half-Shifted, and it does take some getting used to, but trust me: If you spend a few decades as a dragon, the human face is the one that feels wrong.:_ She mentally shrugged. _:Anything in between is like... like a shoulder out of its socket. You don't feel right until it's back in.:  
_ Angel pictured nodding, and hope it came across. _:Somehow, I get the feeling I'll be stuck in the middle more than most dragons.:  
__:You mean the holy water thing?:  
_ There was a long pause, in which she was doing "the holy water thing". _:That, and the wings. Even before I was a dragon, I felt better when I had something on my back. Like it was weird to_ not _have wings. Like I was programmed to accept them more readily? I dunno, it's just this feeling I get, that I'll be half-Shifted more than most. I can't really explain it.:  
__:You mean you think you've been groomed for it? That He knew you were meant for this?:  
_ A bitter hue tinted the mental conversation. _:I was never one to believe in Fate, but maybe I should. Cloud bank on your six we haven't hit yet.:  
_ The beautiful bronze dragoness tilted her wings toward the clouds that looked like every other bit of fluff they'd flown over. She suspected the younger woman had some way to See her work, and trusted it. She'd learned over the years to surrender to the process. It sounded like her daughter-in-law was still struggling with it, which was a bit ironic, considering how she'd come into the dragon community. Not twenty minutes ago, she was Communing with someone upstairs, and yet, she doubted their role in the larger picture.   
She chuffed at the folly of youth, the rumble vibrating the feather scales pressed to her keel. She'd learn, in time, as they all did. The sound of her chuckle against celestial wings was music to her soul. That she'd lived long enough to meet a Celestial Dragon was something few dragons could claim, and she was perpetually fascinated. She'd ask why the feather scales sounded the way they did, but she doubted the younger dragoness would tell her, if she even knew. _Angels and their bloody secrets,_ she grumbled without much heat.   
_:Looks like that's it. Mind if I glide down on my own?:_ _  
__:If you stay within sight, and don't try anything too fancy.:  
_ A deep laugh floated up to her in the thin air. _:Yes, mom.:_  
Shelly, caught up in the camaraderie of dragonhood, simply opened her talons. Not for a moment did she think that Angel would plummet to the earth. Her son would've had a minor heart attack, but the half-Shifted dragoness giggled in delight and purposely dropped a dozen feet before opening her wings. It was ostensibly to get out of the range of the larger dragon's wingbeats, but she suspected a hint of bravado.   
Since she couldn't prove it, they glided lazily down to the ground, where neither truly wanted to be. It was their husbands that tempted them to descend from the heavens, and squeeze back into their less comfortable human vessels.


	3. Transformations and Revelations

Angel hadn't expended enough energy to need more food than any other pregnant woman carrying triplets, but Shelly had. Fortunately, Avi had ordered pizzas.  
What was even more fortunate, for the health of the delivery driver, was that both had Shifted before he arrived at the gate.  
Angel gave her husband a subtle nod to let him know that nothing had possessed the delivery boy. He asked if they were having a party, with all the pizza they'd ordered. Angel couldn't lie, so she left it to the others to do it for her.  
When he drove off, she asked why he'd ordered so much food.  
"I thought I'd give it another go before dark," he said to the stack of pizza boxes tucked against his chest. "This way, we don't have to risk going to the store."  
The women exchanged a glance and a shrug behind his back.  
"I'm not going to complain about pizza," Angel laughed.  
After dinner, the dragons retired to the yard. Mike stayed with the sleeping baby and the dishes.  
Angel had to position his arms on his shoulders for him to pop his wings out, but they wanted him to do the hard part. The problem was, he remembered how much it hurt. He'd pull too slowly, which hurt more, and stop. In the end, his mother popped them for him. She wouldn't always be there to do it, and she made a point of saying so.  
It took three false starts, but he did get the elbows by himself. While he couldn't See much, he could sort of feel what was supposed to happen. He leaned into the lunge, but it took longer to relax his toes without Angel Shifting beside him. Again, he knew it was going to hurt, which made it harder for him to want to do it.  
The tail dropped down easily enough. All he had to do was tilt the way his fears told him not to.  
It was even harder to relax enough for his neck bones to expand. Even though he knew it didn't hurt, Angel had to force Calm on him again. He vented his frustrations by shaking his head until his hair snapped up into the short horns that ran down his neck. He blew his aggravation into his sinus cavities, eyes squeezed shut against the distortion of the world around him. He shook off the bad vibes, trying to picture good energy coming in as the scales flipped out.  
"Not bad, but your time isn't great. That took twenty minutes, my son. I don't need to tell you--"  
"I know, I know. Bad guys won't wait twenty minutes."  
Angel's voice trembled across his earflaps. "We can try the shortcut, but I still don't think you'll like it..."  
He shivered with more force than he needed to shake off his scales, shook his head at the same time, until his hair drifted about his horns. Dread hissed through his nares as his skull collapsed in on itself. He tried to stand up before doing anything else, which did end up compressing his neck and dropping his heels, but he nearly tipped over backward. He was saved by his wings and tail, and two pairs of hands.  
"Points for combining scales and hair," Angel said, "and for trying to do feet and neck in one. I think the Shift to dragon is what we need to be fast, but who knows? With your career..." She shrugged.  
He stood straighter, to make his tail spring back up in his spine, while rolling his shoulders back to try to get the wings in.  
"Picture making a fist with your wings first," Shelly suggested. "They won't tuck up and in if they're half open."  
"Patience, love. Learn good habits first, speed second." Angel kissed the "elbow" of one wing. "If it makes you feel any better, practicing with you has been reinforcing my own foundations. Strong foundation, strong building, and all that. Just like Gabriel said."  
His wings snapped up behind his shoulderblades with all the irritation he was trying to suppress. "Yeah, but you got it on the first try."  
"Time and opportunity," she shrugged. "Plus I've been a dragon before, whether or not I remember. My body remembers, which is the point. There's no fear, which seems to be what you're struggling with. Are you ready for the shortcut?"  
Neither Kaplan looked happy about it, but his head jerked up and down.  
Angel asked Shelly to get Mike.  
"Why?" they asked.  
"Either Mike, or a chair," she said, teeth set in a grim line.  
Shelly went for a chair, a fair idea of what she would do forming in her mind. She didn't like it any better than the younger dragons did, but in a pinch... _What, in a pinch, she'll just drop to the ground?  
_She stabbed the chair into the soil, a scowl on her face.   
_:What else can I do?:_ Angel asked.  
Without waiting for an answer, she turned to her husband. "Hold your arms out, palm up." It was a request, not an order. He could still back out, keep practicing when he had time.  
He did as she asked. Shelly scooted the chair a little closer. Angel mentally braced herself. She took a deep breath and grabbed his forearms with her hands; the tattoos consequently pressed to his skin for a moment.  
And then she dropped into the chair.  
  
Angel opened eyes that weren't her own. She opened hands that were much longer than hers, and turned away from the body that was hers. She dropped his body to the ground, hands first, but they were paws by the time they touched soil. Wings arched high above them; a tail carefully maneuvered around the women behind them. They trotted in a wide circle, stopped in front of the women. She stretched their body up on his hind legs, and he was human again.  
She settled back into her body with far more care than she might be able to afford, should they need to employ this tactic in the future, and opened her eyes.  
"I told you it wouldn't be pleasant."  
"Two minutes, there and back," his mother grumbled. "But I don't like it."  
Angel stood and stretched. "Neither do I." _:There are far more enjoyable ways to be inside one another,:_ she growled to her husband.  
"I think we can all agree that it's a bad idea." He shook his head and blinked several times. "It's motivation to practice, _that's_ for sure!"  
The women nodded.  
"At least it doesn't make me hungry, so it's probably safer than using magic. You're hungry, though, so why don't we call it for the night?"  
He didn't want to, but his body demanded sustenance. Even though she'd been at the wheel the second time, he'd just Shifted twice, in less than half an hour. That used a _lot_ of energy!  
"Besides, I think Menolly is awake."  
As usual, he deferred to the baby. He carried the chair back inside, then promptly plopped into it and opened a pizza box. Menolly wasn't happy about being told she couldn't have any, but they knew better than to give her cheese, or processed meat. Angel didn't even want her to have the piece of crust that Mike had given her to chew on while they waited for the dragons to return. She had to radically accept that she'd already eaten some of it, and move on.


	4. Song of the Heart

After dinner, they went right back to wedding planning. Neither dragoness would let him try Shifting again without light, though he said it might've helped if he couldn't see what was happening.  
"No, because you can't See if you're locked in place."  
_"You_ can," he tried, jaw jutting out. Unfortunately, his wife was far more stubborn than he was, and she was backed up by his mother.  
Now, sitting around with her sketches, they refined her ideas into things that could be implemented smoothly with many pairs of hands. They made diagrams, with step-by-step instructions.   
While they were making the copies to hand out, Angel doodled on a piece of paper in the back of the book. She didn't think anyone would notice, but her husband did.  
"What's this?" he asked.  
She flipped the paper back to a list of supplies. She couldn't say "nothing", though she tried.  
He folded the pages to take a peek, but she tucked it closer to her body. "It's just a doodle," she protested. "I've pretty much finished everything on my end."  
He got a good enough grip on the notebook to snatch it out of her grasp, though they both flinched and flapped their left hands. The metal binding had scraped her palm as he whipped it away.  
"Sorry."  
"You can't be that sorry, 'cause you're looking at my doodle anyway."  
He didn't answer. The "doodle" was so beautiful, so perfect, he couldn't find the words. The sketch itself wasn't a masterpiece, but the concept immediately grabbed him. He got up to put their daughter in her crib, notebook firmly tucked under one arm. When he came back, he held the drawings out to his mother.  
Shelly, having missed the byplay, looked up from the diagram she was copying with a slight frown. "What's this?" She thought they were almost done, and she was getting tired.  
He didn't answer, simply set it atop what she'd been drawing. She looked down, and tears stung her eyes. It could've come from any one of her parents' books, before they'd been destroyed by age, or fire.   
Angel sat and fumed. Now her mother-in-law was upset, too. "Remind me to doodle when you're asleep," she grumbled.  
"No, please!" Shelly objected. "Keep drawing. It's like... I don't know, like you're older than any of us. These..." she looked down at the paper, and back up, eyes shimmering. "How did you know to draw this? Any of it?"   
Uncomfortable now, Angel shrugged. "I just used that scene from the second How to Train Your Dragon, with Hiccup's parents, but... made it more dragon-y..? It's like a... mating flight, but on the ground, which is why the sleeves look like wings."   
Emboldened by Shelly's wistful expression, she elaborated, leaning forward on the couch. "Notice how they get closer with each pass. Wing tips, then first knuckles, whole finger, whole hand, until they could clasp hands. 'Cept it's the back of the hand, then the back of the wrist, until you get up to the forearm." The actress in her paused for a beat. "That's when you clasp arms. I haven't drawn the next part, but you'd swing the other wing round and grab crosswise, so the wings make sort of an x that the officiant could throw the sash over. Kind of like taming a dragon, you know? Lure it in, throw a saddle on." She giggled nervously. "More How to Train Your Dragon, I guess."  
Her shoulders hunched as she sat back. "It's a lovely picture, but what I was imagining wouldn't work for us, if that's what you're thinking."  
Mother and son looked at her like she'd gone crazy. "Why not?!" they asked in unison.  
"It's perfect!" she said.  
"It is!" he agreed. Even Mike thought so.  
Her shoulders peaked so far that they thought her wings would spring forth at any second. She glanced at her husband uneasily, then stared at her hands, clenched in her skirt.  
"You're forgetting that in that scene, they're singing." There was a long pause, where no one knew what to say. "It's just a fanciful idea from the mind of a writer. A scene that starts with the whistling. The bride peeks out. He's 'whistled her out', which is my Celtic heritage showin'.   
"The first few lines of the song, sung solo by the groom. The bride chimes in, right where Hiccup's mom starts. 'Cept the lyrics are different. Skies replace seas, winds instead of waves, that sort of thing."  
Her eyes dripped tears, her voice choked out the last few words: "The song is their vows. But I can't sing, so it's just..."  
She leapt to her feet, but she knew better than to run outside. The temptation to use her wings was too strong. She stumbled into the bedroom they'd been sharing and collapsed on the bed, tears wracking her body.  
The Kaplans looked to one another for answers, but none of them could think of a way to make her dream come true.   
"Autotune?" Mike asked hesitantly.  
Avi shrugged. "I dunno if she'd go along with that."  
"Hang on, now. You'll be dancing, right?"  
The men looked to Shelly, waiting to hear what she'd thought of.  
"Nobody dances and sings, _at the same time._ You'd have to record it ahead of time anyway, wouldn't you?"  
He shook his head. "Where would we record? _How_ would we tune it?"  
Mike laughed. "You guys recorded Daft Punk in a closet. I don't think that's the problem."  
"Fair point. I don't think your computer can run the editing software, though. We'd also have to rent a sound system to play it during the ceremony."  
Shelly flapped a hand. "We'll need one anyway, for the reception. I've already got the rental set up."  
Avi hugged his mother. "I love you."  
"That still leaves the computer," Mike said.  
Avi's face lit up. "Wait a minute! We don't _need_ a computer! We just need someone with an internet connection who has one!"  
"Oh yeah! I keep forgetting that we're only physically cut off. We've still got modern necessities at our disposal."  
"So how do we record the audio? Sure, we can use a closet, but what do we record it _on?_ "  
His mother set a hand on his shoulder. "Why don't you try your phone, see how it sounds, and we'll worry about it if that doesn't work. No need to get her hopes up yet." She handed him the notebook, with the back of the drawing facing him. There, in Angel's neat, artistic handwriting, were the lyrics she'd mentioned.  
He nodded, eyes suspiciously shiny. "I'll go warm up and give it a shot. Mind if I use your closet? I think if she hears me singing, it might make her more sad."  
His dad's hand clapped on his other shoulder. "Don't warm up."  
Understanding lit his hazel eyes. "Right, we _want_ it to sound raw! I forgot!"  
"Besides that, it gets you back to her faster. She's pretty miserable right now," his mom pointed out.  
"Right. I'd best get to it, then."  
His parents let him go. Pride shone from their eyes, and onto his retreating back.


	5. Guests, Both Wanted and Unwanted

Angel had cried herself to sleep by the time he got to her. The baby was tucked into the center of the nautilus that was her body. The baby must've nursed, because her shirt was rumpled up around her ribcage. It tore at his heart to see them that way, tears dried on both of their cheeks. His own eyes misted over, but he had the answer they needed. He'd sent the raw footage to a friend, who assured him that it was easily fixed.  
 **Dude, I can turn Fran Drescher into Beyonce. Send me your lady's recording when you can. It'll be gold by the next day.  
** He thanked his friend and went to tell her the good news, but it was too late. He tucked his girls in and kissed their cheeks. Then he went to tell his parents the good news.  
"As long as the audio is clear, without any background noise--the closet worked great, by the way--he says he can make it sound good in less than a day."  
"That's great. Why don't you go on to bed. We've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow."  
He smiled and hugged them goodnight. He kissed his mother's cheek and heeded her advice.  
Avi thought about undressing his wife, so she'd sleep better. The skirt was bunched up around her waist, her shirt just below her bosom. Then he remembered the morning sickness, and decided she might need clothes in the morning. As a compromise, he tugged the fabric of both garments down, so she wouldn't wake with welts. Her human skin was surprisingly sensitive.  
He stripped down to his boxers and slid under the covers. Without her wings, he was able to snuggle right up to her. He hoped it would impart some sort of support while she slept, so she would know that he loved her, no matter what her voice sounded like.  
  
In the morning, his girls were still where he'd left them. He knew Angel was awake, though she lay still as death. His arm tightened around her ribs, careful of her tender stomach. He dropped a kiss on the side of her neck.  
"Morning."  
"Mm," she rumbled without enthusiasm. It was no use pretending to be asleep, Bound as they were.  
"Feel like spending some time in a closet after breakfast?" He knew full well she could misconstrue his meaning, but if he told her what he was up to, he was afraid she'd react badly.  
She snorted, just as he knew she would. "I think it'll be a bit crowded for that, thanks."  
He pretended to think for a moment. "Hmm, the noise might be an issue, yeah." He meant the sound of the volunteers, but he let her think otherwise.  
She giggled and half-heartedly elbowed him in the side. The baby started to wake when they were talking, and she stretched at the same time her mother moved. The combination of motion, and a tiny butt in her stomach, did unpleasant things to her insides.  
Angel vaulted over her daughter, having been immediately released by her husband. She thanked the Bond as she ran to the bathroom.  
He wasn't as thankful. He realized that the churning in his stomach yesterday hadn't been sympathy, after all. He didn't feel the need to vacate the remnants of dinner, but he didn't feel great, either. Luckily, the baby wasn't affected. She only got the edges of emotions. He envied her that.  
He heard his mother suggest they keep crackers by the bed for her.  
"Have we got any here? If not, you might want to ask one of the helpers to bring some." There was a pause, with a horrible soundtrack. "Dunno if I want to try leftover pizza or not. It's fast, but the grease might not do me any favors."  
"Good thing I heard you two talking, then, isn't it? There's oatmeal in the microwave. Should be done by the time you're ready for it."  
They both thanked his mother. He handed her the baby, so he could go to his wife and hold her hair, rub her back. It seemed so cliche, but it seemed to help.  
"What would you two do without me?" Shelly asked.  
He looked over Angel's back and smiled. "Not a clue."  
Angel spat one last time and wobbled upright. She wiped her mouth self-consciously. "If we keep snacks by the bed, we won't have to find out." She tried to take the baby from Shelly, but she was waved off.   
"I've got her. Go eat your oatmeal."  
Angel gave her a one-armed hug, keeping her stomach well away from everything. If her gait was a tad uneven, no one commented on it.  
"You sure you don't want me to take her?" Avi asked.  
"Naw, she's light as a feather. Besides, it's been an awful long time since you were this little."  
He kissed her cheek and went in search of leftover pizza.  
"I thought we'd leave the pizza for Shifting fuel," she chided. "There are perfectly good eggs I was going to cook."  
He grinned. "Well, it looks like you're otherwise occupied. Guess it's up to me to make breakfast, huh?" Beneath the smile was the urge to do something himself, they saw. He couldn't Shift in under twenty minutes, or without help, but he could darned well cook some eggs!  
"I think there might be some bacon too," Mike prompted. "Mind if your old man handles the toast?"  
Avi laughed, that boyish laugh that made Angel's heart lighter. "Sure thing."  
The women sat at the table with the baby while the men cooked for them. It was a wholesome family moment in a hectic timetable full of stress, so they all enjoyed it to the fullest.  
The first of the volunteers started arriving before Avi could get his wife in the closet, which meant that her voice would be tired by the time they had a chance to record anything. He sighed and followed her out the door to greet their helpers.  
There were more "hitchhikers" than any of them liked, but the holy rain did its job. While the others couldn't See the evil spirits departing, they could see their friends jerk as soon as they hit the barrier, and slump over the steering wheel for a moment.  
Nobody was thrilled with Angel stopping the cars for the drivers, but if she hadn't, they might have driven straight into the house. Some of them got a case of lead foot when they lost consciousness, and Shelly couldn't exactly Shift into something big enough to stop a speeding vehicle. To avoid suspicion from those inside, Angel made it look like she was simply leaning on the hood of the car.  
When there was a lull in the arrivals, as a compromise, Angel tweaked the warding twenty feet from the door. This was a physical shield, inside the psychic shield. No moving object could pass through. It was inconvenient if you tried to walk through that area, but it did stop the cars. Angel added a subtle "move around" compulsion, to keep people from wondering why there was an invisible wall. She also added an inertial dampener between the fence and the wall.  
 _:You do know that this uses magic, right? When I was just stopping the cars with brute force, it was actually safer. I don't know how much time we're losing right now.:  
_His teeth ground together in frustration. _:I don't like the idea of you putting your body--bodies--in front of moving vehicles.:  
_She kissed his neck and turned toward the house. _:I know. But hey, at least we don't have to worry about kamikaze demons now. I wouldn't have thought of that.:  
_ _:None of this feels right,:_ he growled. _:What if they're_ trying _to speed things up?:  
_Her feet froze on the steps. _:Why would they do that?:  
_He put a hand at the small of her back, whispered in her ear for the benefit of anyone looking out a window. "Our tour schedule isn't exactly a secret, you know."  
She did some quick math in her head, turned toward him as though they were whispering to each other. _:You've only released three months of dates, though. Are they trying to set up an ambush at one of the venues,_ and _enough attacks to double gestation time? 'Cause I'd only be four months along by the last show--well, maybe five, now.:_ She winced. _:I_ finally _get to do this properly, and there are forces trying to rush us through it. I don't like it.:  
_He kissed her forehead. _:They don't know about the shortcut.:  
_ _:Yeah, well I was hoping not to have to use it. The kids would have to protect my body while I'm in yours. I didn't want to put that kind of pressure on them. They're still just kids.:  
_"Looks like we'll have to talk about it later. Hey, Sarah. How's everyone doing in there?"  
The middle-aged church lady smiled at the young couple, so obviously in love. "I hate to interrupt. I know how precious your alone time is right now. We were wondering if there were other spaces we could use. We're running out of room, and it's not the best weather for making wedding decorations."  
Angel looked at her husband, brows raised. _:I'd rather not do weather magic, if we can solve this with more mundane solutions.:  
_He scrambled for ideas, but all he could suggest was to ask his mother. He didn't know his diminutive Angel _could_ change the weather, but he did know that he didn't _want_ her to.  
"I would, but we don't know where she is," the older woman apologized.  
Fortunately for them, they were dragons. He asked his mother where she was, pretending to do so via text.  
 _:Setting up tables on the porch, of course.:  
_He looked up from his phone, relief lifting the worry from his brow. "I forgot about the porch! She's setting up tables for you guys to use."  
The older woman smiled and thanked them. She didn't ask why they didn't have an umbrella, because she didn't think of it. Angel still had her draconic perception filter as a constant aura, though she didn't know it. She also didn't notice that they weren't getting wet.  
But her husband did.


	6. Father and Son

Shelly was in her element, organizing the helpers and the supplies. Esther was among the volunteers, and one of the few who wasn't possessed. Kapaneus took it as a point of pride that he'd successfully fended off the straggler who'd tried to inhabit his aunt, all by himself.  
Kirstie was another helper who'd come under her own power. Maisie was equally proud of keeping her Bonded intact, but she didn't boast or preen, as her brother did. The experience was one she hadn't enjoyed. The poor girl was huddled on Kirstie's shoulder, her wide green eyes haunted.  
Angel noticed almost immediately. She assured the hatchlings that their Bonded was quite safe anywhere on the property, so they were free to wander and explore, if they liked.  
"It's a chance to stretch your wings," she coaxed, but Kapa was all business. She tried another tack with him. "You can inspect the warding, see if you can replicate it at your aunt's house."  
He perked up, the gauntlet very obvious in front of him. Never one to back down from a challenge, he looked to his Bonded for permission.  
"Hey, if you can put one of these over my place, by all means, _go._ "  
Angel aimed a thought at her... son, which was weird to say, even in her own head. _:First hint: you'll need holy water, however you come by it. That's the material component for the spellwork. Also, don't anchor it to anything physical.:_  
His green eyes speared her with what she could only call disdain. _:Obviously. Break the object, break the spell.:_  
Her own eyes flared yellow round the irises. _:Stow the attitude, young man. I've got abilities you don't, so maybe respect those, if you can't take me seriously without my feathers.:_  
His earflaps twitched. _:Feathers? Since when do you have feathers?:_  
 _:Feathers over leathers, boyo. You forget that your mother is a Celestial Dragon. Now, go. See if you can figure out how the shields work. Pay close attention to the runework, 'cause I can't go writing it down for you.:_  
She broke eye contact, effectively dismissing him. She didn't like being harsh with him, but he seemed to respond better to it. He seemed to prefer the authoritarian dragoness she'd been when they met, no matter what she wanted.  
"Ahh, that's better," Esther sighed, rolling her shoulders. "I don't know what you said to him, but if looks could kill, one of you would've been on the ground. Everything okay?"  
She shrugged. Esther hadn't seen the dragon shrug on the human torso, but it was a subtle reminder that this was still the dragon they knew. "He just _won't let me_ use kid gloves. Pun kind of intended?" Her shoulders rolled, trying to ease the ache of folded wings. "I don't like being harsh, but he responds better."  
Esther nodded. "I know the feeling. He's so tiny, you just want to cuddle and coo, but he's all fire and spikes."  
"Speaking of cuddling, the blue one looks like she could use it."  
A wave of sadness hit the siblings. She couldn't remember her own daughter's name. "Maisie, yeah. She's not as hard as her brother. If she had to do what _he_ did, she could probably use a _very_ big hug."  
Angel clearly wanted to go to her, but she was huddled on Kirstie's shoulder. Wasn't it her job to comfort her, if she needed it?  
Esther leaned close, as the crowd drifted closer. "I don't think she'll talk to Kirstie about it, if that's what you're thinking. Right now, I think she needs her mother more."  
Angel's spine gained some starch. She nodded, gave Esther a quick hug, and gave in to her maternal instinct. She worked her way through the crowd toward her daughter and her Bonded.  
"Hey Kirstie," she chirped with false brightness, darting a glance at Maisie. Kirstie's eyes widened and flicked her way, as well. She mouthed one word: "help?"  
Angel pasted on a smile, braced herself, and opened up to her little girl. _:Heyla, sweetness. Heard you had a rough morning. Want to go for a walk?:_  
Pale blue eyes slowly turned her way, pupils mere pinpricks. _:Mama?:_  
The dragoness couldn't pretend anymore. Not with that voice in her head. She scooped her daughter to her chest, aided by a grateful Kirstie, and marched into the bedroom where her other daughter slept. She dropped to the bed, held her close, and kissed her right between the eyes. She wept with her, forehead to forehead. Her tears gave Maisie tacit permission to let hers fall. To be something less than brave, in that moment. Sometimes, you just needed a mother's love.  
Angel waved off her husband, when he asked if she needed his help. He could feel her sadness, and it made him sad. _:Make my excuses, will you? Tell them it's the hormones, but let us have our moment, 'kay?:_  
He told his mother what was happening, via telepathy, so no one would overhear their odd conversation. She agreed with Angel that both parents would overwhelm Maisie. _:Go take a walk in the rain. Take an umbrella, and let the sadness happen. It's not yours, so just let it in, and let it go.:_  
So he did. He told the nearest people that he was feeling cramped, and he went outside. The further he got from the house, the better he felt. Not because he felt his wife's sadness any less, but because he was expending energy. It felt, at least biologically, like he was doing something about the emotions clouding the back of his mind.  
And then he saw his son, ostensibly examining runes on the ground. He could even pretend that he was shivering from the rain, and not the tears he was trying to hide with the droplets.  
Knowing Kapa as he did, he didn't call attention to any of it. He merely drifted to a stop near him and observed "Heard you had a busy morning. Must be nice to know you've got a bit of a break."  
He waited for a reply that never came, not that he really expected one. "In case I didn't say it before, I'm proud of you, son."  
The narrow wings shuddered, but he pretended not to notice. "You've earned some rest today." He shifted the umbrella to his other shoulder. "I know that's not your style, but it's there if you want it."  
He bent to pat his son's back, and did one of the hardest things he'd done in recent memory: he walked away. If he stayed, Kapa would lash out, perhaps say things he didn't mean, and then he'd feel worse. He'd validated the reaction, or rather, the luxury of having one. Now he needed to let the boy absorb his words, take whatever meaning he would, and maybe even heal a little. And you know what? Even the possibility of helping his son made him feel better about not doing the same for Maisie.  



	7. Mother and Daughter

Angel was faring much better in her parental duties. Her daughter was more receptive to her reassurances. Being told that it was okay to be frightened, and that her mother was proud of her for pushing through the fear, helped immensely.  
"Are you ever scared, Mama?"  
Angel laughed. "All the time!"  
Her eyes grew larger. "Really? You never _look_ it!"  
"Mm, 'cause I can't afford to. If the bad guys thought I was afraid of them, they'd never stop. So you know what I do?"  
"What?" Maisie hung on her every word.  
Angel scowled down at her little girl, but it was ruined by a snicker. "I make the meanest face I can. I puff up as big as I can. All that fear? I push it _out_ , right at the bad guys. Maybe if I can make them feel my fear, they won't know what's _mine_ , and what's _theirs_. They'll think they're the ones that are scared." She blew across her nails, making a mental note to trim them later. "Then they're easy pickin's. Shakin' in their... well, they don't all wear boots, but you get the point."  
She kissed the pale blue patch of scales atop her daughter's head. "Then, when they're good and dead, I can cry all I want. Probably should, anyway. It's less gross than drooling. That only works if you're me, though."  
Maisie didn't know about her mother's purified saliva and tears, but she'd seen her drool all over things before. "Your spit hurts them?" she asked, head tilted to the side.  
Angel leaned over the side of the bed and rummaged in her suitcase. "Yup. I don't think yours does, but it never hurts to try--after they're dead, though. Don't go spitting in their faces. Just makes 'em mad. Ah, _here_ it is!"  
She sat back on the bed and squirted something that smelled like cookies into her hand. Maisie's eyes followed her hand, which made it harder to tend to her needs.  
"Look down, silly goose. How am I supposed to put lotion on your head like this? It'll just slide right off." She made funny faces when she talked. Maisie wasn't used to seeing her mother do what Kirstie did sometimes. It was reassuring, but strange.  
"Next time you get all dry and itchy, tell Kirstie to put something on it. See, doesn't it feel better? There's stoic, and then there's unnecessary discomfort. I bet your brother's got dry spots, too, 'cause he wouldn't say anything." She clucked her tongue. "It's not complaining, sugar. If you get too dry, your scales will get weak, and maybe even crack. If you aren't in battle, and you need something, tell Kirstie, 'kay? You've gotta be in good shape if you want to keep her safe, right?"  
She massaged the lotion in, planting a kiss here and there amid her lecture to show that she wasn't mad. She even gave her daughter a good scratch where her earflaps met her scalp, because she knew there would be some... whatever dragons had in place of dead skin.  
"Okay, let me see if you're dry anywhere else. I'm guessing elbows, knees, and feet?"  
Kirstie tapped on the door while she was tending to her daughter's hide, so she called her in to show her what she was doing.  
"You know, as infallible as I seemed to think I was as a dragon, I sure's hell didn't teach my kids anything _useful,_ did I?" she grumbled. "You see where it gets all pale, like right here?"  
Kirstie nodded.  
"That means she's dry. Just like humans, dry scales can crack. At least, I think they can. It probably takes a lot more for scales to crack, but if you want her comfortable, keep an eye on her joints. Same places we get dry, they get dry."  
She squirted lotion in Kirstie's palm. "What do you mean 'comfortable'?" she asked.  
Angel heard the worry she didn't voice. She no longer marveled at that ability, she just responded to it. "Dry scales are itchy. Does she ever rub her scales on things?"  
"Nuh uh!" Maisie protested.  
"Uh huh," Kirstie tattled.  
"Do _not!_ "  
"Do _too!_ " She tickled Maisie's belly, just like she would with her dogs. Angel held her breath to see how a sentient creature would handle it, but she just giggled and flopped over.  
"Well, I don't _notice_ I'm doing it, then."  
Kirstie cupped her muzzle and plopped a kiss on it. "Now I know what to do when you scoot across the carpet like Pascal does."  
Maisie's cheeks turned violet.  
Angel kissed the cheek on the other side from Kirstie. "We get it, kiddo. You didn't want to complain, but you get itchy. Here's the thing, though: if you need something--really _need_ it? That's not complaining. Remember, sweetness, you can tell her what you need. Pascal and Olaf can't."  
"And you know what?" Kirstie asked, bending down to eye level with her. "I _wish_ they could tell me what they need."  
Maisie's large, desert fox-like ears stood all the way up, for the first time since she'd been there. "So... It's a good thing? Telling you if I'm itchy, or..." She seemed to wrestle with herself for a moment, which the adults let her do.  
Slowly, as though afraid she was wrong to do so, she held one paw out to her mother. Angel suspected she knew what they'd see, so she tilted the paw toward Kirstie. She smiled as the younger woman separated the tiny toes.  
"Ohhhhh, you poor _thing!_ Have you got any tweezers in that bag?" Kirstie asked.  
Angel fished in the smaller pocket until she found them. She handed them over, and looked in the nightstand for a tissue.  
Kirstie carefully poked around the rock that was lodged under one of Maisie's claws, testing to see where it was loose. Maisie was very brave, trying not to flinch too badly. Angel stroked her head and murmured reassurance. Finally, Kirstie managed to wiggle it out from under the nail, and into the tissue Angel held out. Neither were surprised to see the smear of red.  
"This once, I'll Heal your boo boo, but only if you promise to tell Kirstie before it gets this bad, 'kay?"  
Maisie tugged her paw toward herself, but Angel wouldn't let go.  
"I didn't say you don't deserve Healing, young lady, so _stop_ thinking it. You're still a baby, sweetpea. This is a learning experience, but that doesn't mean you have to risk gangrene for it. Come now, be sensible."  
She stopped struggling, tears shimmering in her large eyes. She got a kiss on either side of her head, though she growled her displeasure.  
Angel tapped her on top of her head with two fingers. Then she used those same fingers to swipe a few tears from her eyes and smooth them over the cut. They came away pink, but her wound was Healed.  
Kirstie watched with wide eyes. "I didn't know you could still do that," she whispered.  
Angel smiled. "I can do so much more. Your power is in your voice. Mine is..." she shrugged. "Everywhere else. I guess I can't complain about not being able to sing, can I?"  
Shelly knocked on the door, reluctant to interrupt. She poked her head in when the girls gave the all clear. "I hate to bother you, but there's a question about the centerpieces."  
Angel gave Maisie one last kiss. "I think you two can take it from here. See if we missed anything?"  
Kirstie nodded and picked up the lotion.  
Angel wiped her hand on the tissue as she left the room. Shelly saw the blood, brows raised in silent query.  
"Just a rock under the claw," she said. She went into the bathroom to flush the tissue, rock and all. It didn't sit well with her, that little rock. She wanted it as far from the house as it could get, and the plumbing was the most efficient way to do it. As an added bonus, it would dilute the dragon's blood to the point of useless, as far as spellwork went. She hoped.


	8. Mother and Son, and Demons

"That's _it?_ That's _all_ you got? We already _knew_ her spit was a problem! The Healing doesn't surprise me, considering what she is."  
Asmodeus scowled with distaste. _"Angels._ Why do they have to make things so difficult for us? And what did we do to merit one o' them angel dragons, anyway? What's one little band, in the grand scheme o' things?"  
The demon paced, clutching the pebble they'd retrieved from the sewers. They hadn't been able to penetrate that barrier of hers; couldn't even _see_ through the damned thing! _Blessed thing, I suppose,_ he growled to himself.  
Crowley, still reeking of the sewer, knelt where he was, and made himself as small as possible. He'd done his part. Surely, it was enough that they knew the stones could get through. They were neither evil nor good; they merely stored what happened around them. Of course, that meant they couldn't store offensive spells in them. All they could do was observe.  
Asmodeus spun toward him, and he cringed inwardly. He dare not cringe otherwise. "See if you can't get these on all o' her spawn. See what else we can find out."  
Crowley assumed he didn't include the infant, safe within the Sanctuary. He bowed himself out of the chamber while he still could.  
He hadn't been specifically forbidden to remove the stench of the sewer, so he did that before tacit permission expired.  
And then he began to make more stones to put in the paths of the dragon spawn.  
  
"You want me to show you my _feet?_ What for?" Kapa scowled up at her.  
Angel dropped to her heels, to put herself on his level. "I found a rock in your sister's foot. Let me see your feet before I tell you why it matters."  
Something in her tone was reminiscent of the mother he respected. He held out one paw at a time, warily eyeing her as he did. She didn't pet or pander, like she did with the baby. She wasn't as gentle as he'd have liked, either, but he didn't object. Whatever was going on, it was important enough for her to invade his personal space, which she'd respected until now.  
"Nothing there." She thought for a moment. "What about your teeth? Feel anything lodged there? Anything at all?"  
He subconsciously licked his back teeth on one side.  
"Thought so. Open up, I'll get it."  
Kapa backed up a step, teeth bared. A growl threatened to break free, but he wouldn't stoop so low. Not in front of her.  
His mother dropped the rest of the way to the ground, tweezers aimed at his muzzle. "I couldn't pull your tooth if I wanted. I just need to get that rock out of your mouth. _Now,_ young man!" Her eyes flared yellow, quick as thought.  
He turned his head so the painful teeth were facing her and sidestepped cautiously nearer.  
"I'm going to hold your head still," she warned. "Horn or jaw, your choice."  
A snarl and head tilt was his only response. She sighed inwardly, but there wasn't time to take him to task for his churlishness. She gripped his horn with one hand, lifted his lip with the rounded end of the tweezers in the other hand.  
Three teeth from the end, she saw it. Just as inky black, just as nauseating to look at. Like his sister's, it was wedged in there solidly enough to bleed when she removed it.  
"Dammit."  
Never one to be defeated, she had an epiphany. "Okay. I have to Heal that as it comes out. I think there's a reason they're wedged so tight. Think it needs your blood to do... whatever it does. I don't think you want me drooling into your mouth, but if I use tears, I can't see what I'm doing. Again, your choice."  
Her son actually _growled_ at her! She yanked on the horn she still held. "If you don't choose _right now_ , I'll pin you down and drool everywhere. I'm _trying_ to keep this civil!"  
Kapa flopped onto his side voluntarily, glaring at her through the eye facing her. It took her a moment to realize that he was giving her his answer. She said she'd pin him, so he was "pinned". She felt sheepish when she saw that she still held his lip above his teeth. He _couldn't_ answer.  
 _:I take it you're choosing saliva.:_ She didn't know if he shunned telepathy because he thought she couldn't use it, or because _he_ couldn't. She'd damned well use it, because she didn't know how long they could keep people away from the window nearest them.  
Without waiting overlong for a reply, Angel popped out her jaw. Her son's eyes widened, with what on anyone else she would label fear. She drooled over his gums, her inner germaphobe cringing. When it was saturated with what was essentially holy water, she began to work the stone free. If it looked too dry anywhere, she drooled some more (and cringed more). It was harder to remove this one, because the only way it could move was into his gums. His teeth were too hard.  
 _:This is going to suck, and I'm sorry.:_ She couldn't speak with her misshapen jaw. She could flick out a single talon, and... it felt weird to think that spit could sanitize it, but that's sort of what happened.  
She took a deep breath, gripped her son's horn, and sliced a small chunk out of his gums. The rock came out with bits of flesh on it, but they didn't bleed. Horrible as it looked, nothing bled. They couldn't afford for it to come in contact with a single drop of dragon's blood.  
Several tears fell in the wound, effectively sealing it. She plucked the foul thing from where he balanced it on his clenched teeth. She couldn't hold tweezers well, with a talon sticking out of her finger, so she'd had to gamble that he wouldn't swallow the stone.  
She gave in to maternal instinct, for a moment. She kissed his cheek, then sprang away, releasing his horn as she retreated.  
He leapt to his feet, licking his gums and fighting the violent urges that gripped him. There his mother sat, holding the thing that had been tormenting him for days, tears streaming down her face.  
Angel slowly stood, holding the tweezers and their burden over her other hand. "I need to soak this in hydrogen peroxide, remove the bits of... I really am sorry." She turned toward the house, shaken by the entire procedure, but unwilling to let him see it.  
She'd taken four steps when she heard his thanks. She half turned back, but all she could squeeze past the lump in her throat was a smile and nod.


	9. Kasey

As soon as she was inside, and out of sight, reaction set in. Shelly was there, with a jar of peroxide and a hug. Angel didn't know how she knew to have the peroxide. She dropped the tweezers into the jar with their burden, just in case, and slid down the wall. Her hands covered her face, and she wept as quietly as possible, to avoid drawing too much attention.  
"It's okay, you got it. You did it." Shelly knelt beside her on the wooden floor and rubbed the shoulder nearest her.  
"Y--you don't understand," Angel sniffled. "I had to _cut it out of his gums!"_ she squeaked. A shudder shook her body, head to toe.  
"And you did. It's out. He's fine, sweetie."  
She hiccuped. "He growled at me, too." The tears slowed, having run their course. "But he did say thanks." Her head rolled toward her mother-in-law. "So at least there's that."  
Maisie startled her by hopping into her lap. Kirstie hovered nearby, having only caught the tail end of things.  
Angel leapt to her feet, one arm holding her daughter, the other swiping at her eyes. "Hey, hi. Didn't see you there. What's up?"  
Maisie's paws reached around her neck, head nuzzled under her chin. Her stubby horns weren't exactly comfortable, but they were rounded enough to get away with it.  
"You were scared, right? Just like you said."  
She sniffled and hugged her daughter with both arms. "Yes, sweetie, I was scared. I didn't want to hurt your brother, even if I was gonna Heal it."  
Maisie, blissfully unaware of what she'd had to do, assured her that it didn't really hurt _that_ much.  
"Of course not," she tried to say, but it was a lie.  
And then Avi was there, with their other daughter.

"What do you _mean_ it's _blank?"_   
Crowley stood straight in the face of his superior's displeasure, fighting the urge to recoil. "They require blood to access memories. I don't see how they could've removed it without bleeding, which can only mean the boy didn't see anything."  
Asmodeus's fangs clacked with irritation. "If he hadn't seen _anything_ , I could understand it being _blank_. The boy has eyes and ears, so _something_ should have been recorded." He spun and aimed a finger at Crowley's nose. "The fact that they found both in the same day means they're onto your little game. They'll be watching for your stones."  
Crowley sneered. "Stones litter the ground wherever they walk. How will they know which ones are mine? Even if they try to remove them, they'll find somewhere else to burrow. That's what they're designed to do."  
Asmodeus snarled " _Obviously, this_ one didn't. Find out what went wrong and _fix_ it!"  
Crowley took it from his boss and returned to his workshop. He set it at the feet of a hellhound, had it walk over it, and sure enough, it burrowed into the paw pad.  
"Hmm..." He decided to let the beast walk the grounds, get it good and embedded, before trying to remove it. Perhaps a tougher hide kept it from breaking the skin? There wasn't much tougher than hellhide.  
Besides, he'd been meaning to do a bit of spying on his competition.

Angel had been so busy taking care of her children, and answering questions from the craft crew, she hadn't had time to properly meet her friend Kasey. She felt worse when she realized that she hadn't even noticed the omission. This epiphany happened about the time Kasey plunked down in the chair next to her, as she was feeding Menolly.  
"So, you're marrying him, huh?"  
Angel's head spun round, startled nearly into splattering her daughter with green bean puree. Nearly. The spoon stopped just past her chubby cheeks, and she was hungry enough to make it work. Kasey laughed, watching the baby gum the spoon sideways.  
Angel turned back to her daughter in time to scoop a glob of vegetables off her cheek, into her mouth. "Yeah... crazy world, huh?"  
Kasey chuckled. "Yeah. I remember when you'd post one of your drawings, hoping he'd see it. Only he never did, so... How did you two meet?"  
Angel couldn't lie, but the younger girl didn't know that. If she had, she might not have asked. She didn't know either way, having just met her. Given no other option, she told the truth.  
"You know," she said, trying for a laugh, "I wish I could remember. Thing is, I woke up in hospital, and there he was. There she was," she said, waving the spoon at the baby. She remembered that while she couldn't lie, Avi could--and more importantly, _had done._ She couldn't tell Kasey the whole truth, but she _could_ tell her what he'd told her sister. That way, she wasn't lying. He really had said the words, whether or not they were true. She was merely relating a previous incident.  
"Wait, so you met, _had a baby together_ , and then you went in a _coma?_ Why didn't you get married before you had the baby?"  
Angel shrugged. Kasey stared, having never seen the unique "Angel shrug" before. "Couldn't tell you." She tapped her head. She couldn't say that she'd been a dragon at the time, but she could let Kasey think that she couldn't remember anything before the coma, because it was true.  
"Here you go, fresh out of the microwave."  
Angel tilted her face up for the kiss she knew was coming, thanked her husband for the pizza. "I would've eaten it cold, but I'll not complain about it being hot. You eating with us?"  
He set a second plate on the other side of the baby with a grin. There was a suspicious lack of steam coming from it. She glared at him over her... Her head tilted back up, and to the side. "When did I stop wearing my glasses?"  
He sat down, eyes distant. He took a bite of cold pizza, brows curled. "You know, I don't think you wore them past the first day." A boyish grin stretched his tomato sauced lips. "What, you think the coma fixed your eyes?" _:And a few other things, I've noticed,:_ he added.  
Angel stopped and took stock, not quite sure what he meant. She mentally worked her way from head to toe, and got as far as her teeth before it hit her.  
_:And when did I stop_ _wearing_ _my dentures?:_ she asked, hiding her face from Kasey.  
_:Oh, ah, I guess after you Shifted the first time?:_  
 _:You sound surprised. What did you mean, then?:_  
His smile changed subtly. _:You woke up a completely different person_ _than_ _the dragon_ _I_ _knew.:_  
 _:Oh yeah... Well, best test the ol' eyesight, then, before she wonders why we're just sitting here,_ _staring_ _at each other.:_  
He laughed and kissed her cheek, over their daughter's head.  
"Is there anything with text on it in the room? That's mostly what I needed them for. I wasn't super near-sighted, I just couldn't see details too well."  
Kasey held up the diagram she'd been working from.  
"Well, I could've read it _that_ close without my glasses _before_ the coma," she said dryly.  
She stood up and walked a couple of paces away, still holding the diagram.  
Angel didn't even have to squint. "Huh... I guess I don't need glasses anymore." She sat straighter, beaming happily.  
"Who'd have thought a coma would fix your vision?" Kasey asked. She turned to Avi as she sat down. "Speaking of the coma, she says she can't remember what happened before, so how _did_ you two meet?"  
His jaw stopped moving for a moment, his mind racing. This was Kasey asking. She knew both of them, so what could he say that she'd believe? He pinged his wife a wordless query, but she didn't have any ideas besides her art.  
 _:Yeah, but there's a problem with that. I hadn't seen any of your work until_ after _the coma.:_  
 _:How would she know that?:_  
He chewed with a bit more grinding than necessary. _:You said I hadn't given it a single 'like'. She'd have noticed that, wouldn't she?:_  
 _:Not a clue. Feel around, see what she knows?:_  
He swallowed the overdue bite of pizza. "Well, I'm sure you know she's an artist."  
Kasey propped her elbows on the table. "'Course I do. We both are." One finger pointed at his nose. "I also know just how frustrated she got when you didn't see her work."  
He held his hands wide, fingers shining with grease. "Well, I had to see it sometime. Twitter isn't a vacuum." He took another bite of pizza to buy time.  
"So, what, you just struck up a conversation with some random artist? Somewhere _nobody_ saw it? And you," she said to Angel, "didn't tell anybody?"  
Here, Angel could speak the truth. "I've told people before, so I'll tell you the same: If I ever dated someone of influence, I'd never broadcast the fact. If I did, that'd put me in a spotlight I never wanted." She glanced away from her daughter for a moment, eyes reflecting her wariness. "Imagine, for a minute, if this went public. It wouldn't just be you asking questions. My social media accounts would be flooded with friends asking for details. Things any other couple would be allowed to keep to themselves. Sure, 'how did you meet' is common, but you know that's not all they'd ask."  
He kissed her cheek, chuckled, and wiped the grease from her skin with a napkin.  
"Besides," she said, bracing for the impact of her next words. "We're already married. We just hadn't gotten to the ceremony yet."


	10. I Ship It

Kasey's jaw almost audibly hit the floor. It was several minutes before her voice would work. "You mean you two _eloped?_ And _nobody_ knew?"  
Shelly patted her shoulder as she walked into the kitchen to start microwaving pizza. "Of course we knew, dear. Who d'you think stood up for them?"  
The dragons were secretly enjoying her reaction, though they all hid it in their own ways. Angel simply kept her back turned as she fed their daughter, a grin stretching ear to ear. Shelly, too, kept her back turned while she microwaved pizza. As for Avi, he simply let the smile happen. He chewed his pizza happily, eyes twinkling at her without a hint of contriteness.  
"That's not common knowledge," Esther said, coming in for a batch of pizza for their helpers. "I hope we can count on you to keep that to yourself?"  
Kasey looked around at the content Kaplans. Who was she to disturb their calm? Besides, they'd never forgive her if she didn't keep their secret. Still...  
"People are going to ask, though. They'll want to know how this happened without anyone knowing."  
Shelly spun around, a frown between her brows. "How _what_ happened?"  
Kasey waved her hand vaguely. "The baby, the coma... I dunno, everything? I mean, you're just going to pop up one day and say 'oh by the way, I'm married to someone y'all didn't know I knew, and we have kids'?"  
Esther propped one hand on her hip and faced her mother. "You didn't tell me Menolly had siblings. I thought it was just her, silly me."  
Kasey flushed. "Well, at this rate, I didn't know when you'd be telling people," she said defensively.  
"Telling who what?" Mike took the plates his wife handed him, having only caught the last sentence.  
"Kasey was wondering when we were going to tell people our son is married, with a baby."  
He frowned. "I didn't know we had to tell 'people' anything. Isn't he entitled to a private life?" He walked away with pizza for the volunteers on the porch, and in the living room.  
Kasey's face deepened in color. "Look, _I_ don't think you owe it to anyone. I just don't know if _they'll_ agree. I'm just trying to prepare you for their reaction, is all."  
"We'll take that as it comes. For now, we'd like to keep it to friends and family." Shelly stressed the word 'friends'; rather unnecessarily, to her thinking.  
Kasey threw up her hands. "I've done my due diligence. I won't say a word, and if anyone asks after the fact, I'll just say... I don't know what, but I won't say anything before you guys do."  
Esther, also loaded up with plates for the volunteers, said "You can tell them we swore you to secrecy, because we are." Then she left to feed the hungry crowd.  
Into the heavy silence, Angel asked how the decorations were coming along. Kasey snatched the new topic eagerly, and the talk shifted to wedding preparations. Shelly continued to heat up pizza until her husband and daughter sat down with their own plates.   
The baby had finished her lunch halfway through, but that didn't stop her from making eyes at her father's crusts. If they'd been alone, he would have given her a piece, but her mother was giving them serious side eye.  
"Sorry kiddo, I don't think you're allowed to have any," he stage whispered.  
Mike reached for a corner of his, but his wife put a hand on his arm and shook her head.  
"It's not a good idea to introduce wheat or dairy when she's this young," Angel stated firmly.  
"It's not?" Neither man knew that.  
Angel shook her head. "It increases the likelihood of an allergic reaction. If you don't want her to eat wheat or dairy when she's older..." Her hands spread wide, in both invitation and apology.  
She repeated that, in words the baby would understand, directly to her. She used both sign language and telepathy to get her message across. While she understood the gist of what her mother said, she clearly didn't like it.  
"Wait, what's in those biscuits you've given her?" Avi asked.  
"Arrowroot."  
"Oh. What about the cereals?"  
"Oat and rice."  
"Huh. I guess I never noticed she wasn't eating wheat yet."  
She chuckled. "Believe me, there are plenty of dairy and wheat alternatives." Belatedly remembering Kasey sitting next to her, she finished where she wouldn't hear. _:I learned them all, before I got turned into a dragon and didn't need them anymore.:_  
He kissed their daughter's strawberry blonde curls. "Sorry, sugar. Guess you'll have to wait a while. Want some of those cookies?"  
Menolly made the sign for 'cookie', and Kasey melted.  
"It's so cute that you taught her sign language."  
Angel smiled with maternal pride. "They say if you teach them to sign, they're less fussy, 'cause they can tell you what they want." _:Even when they can use telepathy, actually,:_ she said to her husband.  
_:Really?:  
_ _:Yeah. I mean, she'll get the gist either way, but the signs work better sometimes. Other times, sending her pictures works better.:_  
Avi smiled with husbandly pride. "So she taught us to sign."  
Kasey looked at them for a long time, chewing on her own slice of pizza now. Finally, she said three words that made them unaccountably happy:  
"I ship it."


	11. Double Entendre

The remainder of the day went fairly smoothly. With the horde of people helping, and the diagrams they'd made, they actually got all of the decorations done. The last part of the evening was spent sorting whose supplies were where. Shelly's list of who brought what helped considerably. The crowd thinned as they got their things and drifted away, happy in the knowledge that they'd made the young couple's dream wedding possible.  
Esther decided to spend the night and drive home in the morning. She wouldn't say it with any of the volunteers present, but she wanted to know what was going on with the hatchlings. Kirstie was one of the first to leave, having brought no supplies, but needing to warn the rest of the band. She'd taken a photo of the rock Angel removed from Kapa's teeth, but she dare not send it over the internet. They didn't know how, or if, they were being monitored.  
All of the Kaplans went to bed, and for the first time, they did so together.  
Angel lay their daughter in her crib, a fond smile hovering about her lips. She rummaged through her suitcase in search of a change of clothes that she could wear to bed, and the next day.  
The crackle of a package behind her got her attention. She chuckled and straightened. "You trying to get me to sleep in my birthday suit?" she asked saucily. A fresh, unopened pack of crackers sat on the bedside table, in easy reach of a pregnant woman with morning sickness.  
He set to work removing his own clothes, all innocence. "You wouldn't have those lines on your skin, if you did."  
"Uh huh. That's your only motivation, is it?" Her skirt dropped to the floor.  
"Of course it is." His shirt landed atop hers. His arms loosely circled her waist. "Is it a crime to want you to be comfortable?"  
She brushed her breasts against his chest hair, chuckling low in her throat. "I suppose it isn't. If there are certain... fringe benefits, you couldn't be blamed for it."  
A rumble was her only answer. There was no need for words, for the rest of the evening. What sounds they made were hushed, in deference to their current accommodations.  
They woke content and entwined. She was reluctant to break contact, but she felt the telltale queasiness beginning to churn. She reasoned that if she nibbled on the crackers, they could remain in physical contact longer.  
To avoid getting crumbs in the sheets, she leaned over the bed to let them fall to the floor. He was quite entertained by the picture of his wife lying on her side, partway off the mattress. He "helped" her not fall over the edge by pinning her waist to the sheets with both arms. If it was snugged up tight to something else, as she said, it was a fringe benefit.  
Angel ate sparingly of the crackers, unsure how many they had in total, or how long they would be at his parents' place. She didn't want to get out of bed, as cozy as they were, but she needed to see about getting something more substantial. There was much growling and grumbling, on both sides, but she did get dressed and tiptoe into the kitchen.  
She needn't have tried to be quiet. As usual, the elder Kaplans were already in the kitchen having their coffee. Toast was sitting in front of the chair she'd been using, along with a cup of coffee.  
"Decaf, I assume?" she asked.  
"Of course," Shelly said.   
Angel thanked her for the toast, and the crackers. "They worked a treat, as you can see," she chuckled.  
A plate of eggs slid across the table toward her, which she caught with ease. She tried not to worry about how many eggs they had left, and only sort of succeeded.  
A sleepy baby perched on her father's arm as he sat next to her. Angel smacked a kiss on her tiny cheek, which always made her giggle.  
"Somebody's not awake yet."  
He laughed. "No, but she smelled food. Looks like there's nothing for you, but Papa's got your favorite."  
Menolly opened and closed her fists, sleepily demanding "pea". She was looking directly at her mother's eggs and toast, but he just smiled and pulled out a jar of peas.  
"Here, why don't I feed her? Your mother's got breakfast ready, and I've already eaten."  
Angel tried not to stare. She wouldn't have thought Mike would offer, but it made sense. Shelly had been so busy cooking, she hadn't had her own breakfast. Their children hadn't eaten yet, but he had. Since he was the only one who didn't have a plate of temptation in front of him, he was the most logical choice.  
Logic or not, she melted at the sight of the two of them. That was the most he'd smiled in the entirety of her acquaintance with him--to her knowledge, anyway. She was so enthralled that it took her longer to eat than the others, but they didn't mind.  
"So," Esther asked when they'd finished breakfast, "what's on the agenda for the day?"  
Avi smiled at Angel in a way that made her slightly uncomfortable, though she couldn't have said why. "I thought I'd practice Shifting a bit, and then I thought I'd get my wife in a closet."  
Angel and Esther choked in unison. Avi and his parents laughed.  
Shelly suggested he get the hard part over with first. "It'll give your friend more time." This left both of the younger women in the dark, and equally uncomfortable.  
"Good point." He held out a hand, which she was reluctant to take.  
"Oh, go on. It won't kill you."  
Shelly's assertion did little to reassure her. She placed her hand in his, cheeks flaming. The entire walk to his parents' closet was filled with confusion, embarrassment, and apprehension. This was harder than Shifting was for him..? What could they _possibly_ be doing in a closet? It couldn't be what she immediately thought of, because his parents wouldn't be so blase about it. Besides, they did that last night.


	12. Song of Anxiety

Avi opened the door and motioned her in ahead of him. Cheeks a bright heliotrope, she scooted in and hunched in the corner on the balls of her feet. He sat next to her and closed the door.  
"Remember that idea you had? About the ceremony?"  
He thrust an arm against the wall to block her exit. "Autotune. I'll be using it too."  
She sat upright in shock. "Why on earth would _you_ need it?"  
A chuckle floated above her head. "Because I recorded my part raw, no warm up. I had to see if a friend of mine could make it sound like it does in the final product."  
Her shoulders hunched. "You sound better with no warm up than I do on my best day."  
He circled her torso with his arms loosely. "He said, and I quote, that he could make Fran Drescher sound like Beyonce."  
That startled a laugh out of her. She relaxed a fraction, which was a start.  
"So, since neither of us are warm, should we sing to each other?"  
She tensed again. "I thought you said you already recorded yours."  
"I did, but how will you know when to come in? If we played the movie song through the earbuds, you'd sing their lyrics, not ours. Plus the phone would pick up the music, and he needs clean audio." He could feel her wings shifting beneath his arms.  
"Have you ever heard me try to sing first thing in the morning?" He injected as much self-deprecation into the question as he could.  
She shook her head. While he couldn't see it, he felt her hair brushing his cheek.  
"And I haven't been drinking enough water, so it's bound to be... rough."  
"Look, I get what you're trying to do, but if you start singing, I won't be able to make a sound. The only way I'm gonna get through this is if I'm alone, and _nobody_ can hear me."  
His arms tightened around her. "You think you can do it without the music?"  
Her laughter wasn't exactly pleasant. "Remember whose idea this was. I've heard that song so often I could probably sing _both_ parts. The only problem I can foresee is falling into Peter Hollens' tempo."  
He handed her his phone. "Wanna listen to the movie version once, to keep it fresh in your mind?"  
She leaned into him. "Yes please."  
She pulled it up on Spotify and pressed play. Their heads touched, and her foot tapped along with the fast parts. When she'd heard it thrice, she sat up. "Okay, I've got it. By the way, do you think we can do the stomping in that dance?" She snorted. "I've got a flair for the dramatic. Besides, while I can't sing or play a wind instrument, I used to be a percussionist. I can damned well stomp in time to the music." More quietly, she added that she often did, when she listened to the song.  
"Sure thing." He kissed her forehead, pulled up the camera, and left her alone. She heard the door close. Shortly after, the front door closed. She scanned the house with her Dragonsense, and found not a single soul within the walls. Well, not that she could See. She still wasn't sure it was working perfectly. More to the point, she felt alone, isolated enough to sing her heart out. She listened to the song once more, this time singing along. While _he_ didn't need to warm up, _she_ did.  
She pushed the knowledge that someone would hear this to the back of her mind. She closed Spotify, opened the camera, and pressed record. Her heart beat an erratic staccato against her ribs. She closed her eyes against the fear, and sang the version of the song she'd written ages ago. If she couldn't hold the notes as long as she should, well, the actress didn't hold all of them, either. Sure, she was laughing in the scene, but it was the only consolation Angel had.  
An unsteady hand tapped the stop button. She stood on wobbly legs and tottered into the bedroom to lie down.  
 _:I'm done. Kindly take this thing from me and send it,_ without _listening to it, please?:_ _  
_ _:Yes dear.:_  
Her eyes watered, but she didn't give in to the urge to cry. Not this time. Pregnant or not, she had to be stronger than that. Instead, she picked up her own phone and messaged Dan. She needed her best friend to tell her it was okay, whether or not she believed him.  
  
 **Only Avi could get you to do that,** he said, with a cry laughing emoji after it.  
 **Just barely,** she growled, looking for the stinkiest stink face she could find. Unsatisfied with the selection, she made the face herself and sent the selfie. As little as they'd seen each other, this had been common practice from the beginning.  
He sent his "aww" face, which was so cute, she could rarely stay mad. Sometimes, it made her more angry, because he was being cute when she was in a foul mood. Today was the latter.  
 **I sounded like an ogre gargling,** she grumbled.  
 **I've heard you sing. It's not that bad.** She rolled her eyes. _"Not that bad" isn't exactly a ringing endorsement,_ she thought.  
"It's better than having people say you sound like a cat in heat," her husband reasoned. She'd forgotten that he could hear any thoughts that were well-formed.  
She rolled over and gave him the same stink eye. "Nobody's said that to my face, but I've certainly thought it a time or a trillion."  
He kissed her pout, unwilling to concede that she couldn't sing. "Call us biased, then. I'm going to send this to my friend in Nashville. Want me to bring the baby in, or do you need some time alone?"  
Angel thought of her daughter, the gift she'd always wanted. Her baby, who would always need her; and sometimes, maybe, be just what she needed. Besides, who was she to shirk her duties now, just because of wounded pride?  
"Yes, I think I'd like that very much."


	13. "Not Horrible"

While Angel was busy talking to her friend, and playing with the baby, Avi walked outside with his phone. He told his parents and sister that he needed to stretch his legs, but they probably knew that he wanted to listen to his wife's recording where she wouldn't hear.  
It broke his heart. There was such raw longing, such pain and love, that he didn't want it touched. **  
**

**Can you smooth out the rough edges without losing the emotion?** He asked.   
**Sure thing, boss. It's kinda what I do, y'know.  
** He chuckled, shaking his head at the phone. **Sorry. She's just so touchy about it that I guess I picked up on her jitters.**   
**Nah, it's fine. I get that all the time. You gonna send it, or what?**

Avi laughed as he hit send. Five minutes later, as he was strolling through the sage and stone, he got a phone call. "You say she recorded this raw? First thing in the morning?"   
"Mm hmm."   
"And she hates her voice?"   
"Yeah..."   
"Dude, you know she's not horrible, right? A few voice lessons, and she'd be pretty decent. I mean, she's not _you_ , but she's not as bad as she thinks. Most of what I'm hearing is lack of training."   
His feet drifted to a stop. "I... It's going to sound funny, but I thought it was just bias. To hear someone else say it... I just wish my wife could hear it."   
There was a silence at the other end that baffled him until his friend finally spluttered "This is your _wife's_ voice?"   
He swore a colorful streak in his head, hoping she wouldn't hear it. "Yeah, uh, we're keeping that under wraps until we do the whole ceremony thing. We kinda eloped..."   
"Do I get an invite if I keep it a secret?" The laughter on the other end of the line didn't ease his anxiety.  
"Dude, you get an invite for doing the audio for our vows."   
"Wait, _that's_ what this is?! Shit, no pressure or anything!"   
He laughed, then. "Yeah, and we need it in three days' time. No pressure."   
" _THREE DAYS?!_ How am I supposed to get a flight and accommodations in _three days?!"_   
He gritted his teeth. There was a way to get him here, but he wouldn't risk being exposed--of exposing his family--for one friend.   
_:You know I can erase his memory, right? At least you said I could.:_ _  
__:I didn't know you were listening,:_ he yelped.   
_:When_ you _swear like_ **I** _do, I get curious.:  
_ _:Well, I don't like the whole memory erasing thing. Guess I should've told you again, but it hasn't come up before.:  
_ He Felt a mental shrug. _:Up to you.:  
_ "No ideas, huh?" His friend's voice snapped him out of the telepathic conversation.   
Reluctantly, he said "If you can't find a flight, I might know someone who can get you here. Maybe. No guarantees, and it won't be ideal. As for accommodations, maybe Mom can find an air mattress. Or you could buy one. We're going to be putting up a lot of family, I think." He tried to make it sound as unattractive as possible. They didn't need another person who could possibly find out her--their--secret.   
"I'll see what I can do. As long as it doesn't get out that you're getting married, a hotel shouldn't be super hard. I'm mostly worried about the flight."   
Avi blushed. "I doubt my wedding would sell out every hotel room in the city." He laughed.   
"Dude, your wedding would sell out every hotel, in every city remotely _near_ you!"   
Avi blushed a deep fuchsia. "I'll have to take your word for it. Listen, I think my mom needs help with wedding stuff. See you in a few days?"   
"Yeah, sure, if I can swing it."   
"Even if you can't, you have my eternal gratitude for what you're doing."   
His friend said "aww", as well as a few other things, and hung up.   
_I am_ so _glad I can lie! That was getting... yeah...  
_ _:How'd it go?:  
_ He'd forgotten, again, that she could hear his thoughts. _:I may have slipped a little, and mentioned what the recordings were for. He's now invited, I guess, to buy his silence.:  
_ There was a pause. _:Your parents aren't thrilled, but commend your quick thinking. Doesn't mean we won't worry, though.:  
_ _:Yes, ma'am.:  
_ She couldn't help but laugh; especially since he was walking up the stairs, so she could see his hangdog expression, and his slumped shoulders.   
"I didn't mean to," he said when he came through the door.   
Mike shook his head. "I don't know if I'll ever get used to hearing half of conversations."   
Angel chuckled. "People managed to get used to it in Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar books. They're talking to creatures that look like horses, that aren't in the room, so it's a bit more disorienting. At least, I think that's the series. Might've been Pern."   
He shook his head. "I guess I should be glad it's dragons that I can usually see, then."   
Most of the Kaplans laughed with him.   
"Speaking of dragons, somebody said he was going to practice some more, today."   
Avi dropped into a chair and blew kisses into the baby's neck. "Can I rest a minute? I've been walking around for a while."   
Angel looked down her nose at him. "If I recall correctly, _somebody_ suggested that it was the best time to practice. Something about muscles being too tired to fight the change?"   
He slumped backwards, head resting on the back of the chair. "Sure, throw my own words back at me, why don't ya?"  
His family laughed some more. He dragged himself upright and shuffled back out the door. He wasn't tired; not really. He hadn't been walking for that long. It was more that he dreaded the disappointment of not being fast enough.   
Angel looped her arms through one of his. "I keep telling you, the only reason I can do it is because I was a dragon for so long. Being a dragon is comfortable for me."   
"Does the pain ever get better?" he asked.   
She smiled up at him. "You ever try setting a dislocated joint?"   
His brow furrowed a small herb garden. "Of course not. I've never had to."   
"When you go slow, it hurts more. Let me ask you a question you'll know the answer to: Did it hurt when I Shifted for you?"   
The clouds vanished from his face. "No, it didn't! You mean you weren't doing some sort of pain dampening thing?"   
The herb garden migrated to her brow. "Can I do that?"   
A grin spread across his face. Relief lightened his features. "That's a no. So, faster is better?"   
She let go of his arm with one hand to hold up a finger of caution. "Once you've got the hang of it, yes. If you try to run before you can walk, you could do yourself harm. Whether or not you believe me, Gabe said the same thing. The reason I told you was so you'd know that it won't always hurt. If you can push through, get the feel of the process, _then,_ and _only_ then, you can go faster. Like I said, I do like the hair/scales combo. That's a safe enough shortcut. Maybe you can perfect the other maneuver, maybe not."   
"You need to build a series of good habits, instead of counting on instinct alone. If you don't, you might forget to lock a joint in place before growing full size." His mother put her hand on his other arm. "I know you want to launch yourself into it full speed, but you need a solid foundation before you build a house." She was echoing an archangel's warning, though she didn't know it.  
"Yes, ma'am."   
The women let go of his arms. His mother pulled out her phone and tapped the stopwatch function.   
"Ready when you are."


	14. Dragon Claws

In the theme of combining things, he tried to pop his feet when he dropped down on his forelegs. He stood on tiptoe before letting gravity take him. It almost worked, but his ankle rolled sideways. He dropped to one knee, barely Shifted and nearly defeated.  
Angel was at his side immediately; mainly because she fell when he did.  
"I'm so sorry! Are you okay?"  
She slapped his ankle into alignment with a scowl. "Better than _you_ were. You nearly broke your damned fool ankle! If you want another way to do the feet, just _ask_ , will ya?"  
His butt hit the spiky grass, still protected by denim. "There's another way?"  
She rolled to her feet and walked over to the railing. "We'll use props this time, I think."  
Duly chastised, he got up, Shifted his arms back, and stood next to his diminutive wife.  
She stood on the balls of her feet, and waited for him to do the same. Then she angled her feet forward, until the top of her feet aligned with her shins, while keeping her toes flat to the earth.  
"Here, it's more of a stretch than a forced change. Just act like it's any other warmup. Tighten your tush, stretch your legs."  
"But your feet haven't Changed."  
She grimaced. "That's because my muscles are tight. The point isn't for _me_ to Shift." The desire to do so made her grumpy, though only Shelly recognized the frustration in her voice.  
"Right..." He did what she said. He stretched up as high as he could, keeping his buttocks tight, toes flat. Once he got the tops of his feet in line with his shins, everything _popped_ ; except the "pop" was his toes clicking together, from five to three. She was right, it didn't hurt! It felt like a good stretch where a joint popped.  
"I heard that!" his mom crowed.  
"But how does this help when I don't have anything to hold onto?"  
"I'll tell you while you're Shifting. Clock hasn't stopped."  
He turned around, flicked his arms out on the second try, and wobbled further from the house.  
"That was to show you that as long as your shins and feet are aligned, you could have dragon hind feet lying down. It's harder when you don't have something to brace your toes on, but doable. Advanced, but possible.  
"When I Shift, I don't lean into it. I stretch up into it. I just thought the lean would make more sense to you. By the by, you forgot the wings."  
Out of sheer frustration, when he was trying to rear up on his hind legs, he yanked his arms in such a way as to pop his shoulderblades out and down. He couldn't walk bipedal, as she could, because his center of gravity was still in his shoulders. When he tried to get upright, the weight of his longer arms, plus the force of the gesture, pulled the scapulas down, perpendicular to the ground, where they naturally wanted to sit. A human scapula had to turn a sharp ninety degrees to make the Change.  
He caught Angel's train of thought, as she analyzed what happened. "I didn't know that. If you'd told me, it might've helped me figure out what you were trying to get me to do."  
"Duly noted. Arch your back."  
He did it without question. He'd gotten so accustomed to taking orders in practice that he acted without thought. His wings sprang out, with a relief that he wasn't used to feeling.  
"Is this what you feel when you Shift?"  
Both women could see his expression. Both said yes.  
He grinned, snaking his neck and tail out at the same time, in one big "s" shaped move. Then he flipped his hair up into the neck spikes while he blew his muzzle out in record time. He shook his scales out when he felt the telltale click of skull bones.  
"You've really got the hang of that hair to horns maneuver. Good combinations. Now Shift back."  
Bolstered by his wife's approval, he assessed the reversal. He pushed up with his arms and made wing fists, which pulled them closer to his center of gravity. He held himself up with his tail as gravity also plopped his neck and feet down to human proportions. It actually felt weird when his toes sprang apart, into five smaller toes. When his neck was in place, he sighed his skull flat, shrugged his shoulders, and tucked his tailbones in.  
"Scales," his mom reminded him.  
"Hair," Angel prompted.  
He shook himself all over until he was fully human.  
"Reversal time is down," his mother reported. "With the... mishap... your Shift to dragon was still twenty minutes, but if you get that, you'd be down to ten, I think."  
"Not good enough," he growled grimly.  
"Good enough for a food break," Angel insisted. "I'm sure your time will be better afterward."  
The women heard the dragon clawing at the human. They worried that if they let him Shift again so soon, he might go full dragon. Permanently. Shelly had seen it happen. Angel was, as usual, working off of instinct.  
They each looped an arm through one of his, outwardly calm and relaxed. Both could Shift, and hold him down until sense came back, but neither wanted to risk the babies. So they guided him inside, where Mike had a steaming plate of pizza waiting.  
The smell of food snapped sense into his eyes, as did his daughter's happy babbling.  
"Heyla sweetness, how've you two been doing in here?" Angel smiled, relaxed a fraction.  
"How's my girl?" he cooed, plopping a loud kiss on her cheek. She giggled when Daddy's beard tickled her skin.  
"She's barely taken her eyes off the window."  
Avi sat down with his brunch, one dragon on each side of him. He didn't notice, and neither did Mike or Esther comment on it. Shelly did get a few curious stares, but she pretended not to notice.  
When he went to the bathroom, she calmly, offhandedly mentioned that the dragon nearly took him.  
 _"What?_ What does that even _mean?_ " Esther hissed.  
Angel was studiously concentrating on the baby, so he wouldn't overhear the conversation through the Bond. That left Shelly to give them a quick rundown of dragon biology.  
"We're wired to _prefer_ being dragons. It didn't hurt when he Shifted this time, so the dragon got a foot in the door. Best not mention it," she finished hastily.  
Avi returned and requested more pizza, if there was any left.  
"Of course!" Esther leapt to her feet first, though three Kaplans made to get up at once.  
Bless his happy little heart, he thought they were eager to celebrate his progress. Angel loved him for it, and not just because it meant not having to have that particular talk. She was so very jaded and realistic that she counted on his naivete and optimism. It kept her from drowning in her responsibilities.


	15. Unholy Stones

"So," Esther asked, "what's with those stones we found on the kids?" She was genuinely curious, but it also distracted her brother from his dragonself.  
"I don't know as much as I'd like to," Angel growled. Her voice, already deeper than most, dropped into draconic rumbles when she was unhappy. It didn't help keep her husband's dragon in check, but the conversation did its job of distraction well enough that he didn't notice.  
"What I do know is, they make me sick to even look at. They aren't evil, or they wouldn't have made it through the barrier. I don't know about you, but I don't even want to _think_ about what would've happened if the kids had been zapped! At least when we removed them, it was a controlled situation.  
"I think they need our blood to activate. That's why they burrow so deep. A normal rock might've gotten caught where Maisie's was, but not yours." She nodded at Kapa, sitting on the back of his aunt's chair.  
"So we should check our shoes?" Mike asked.  
Angel coughed with embarrassment. "By 'we', I mean the dragons. It's just a theory, of course, but if it is, you'd be safe."  
"Unless it sticks to his shoe and one of _us_ steps on it," Kapa pointed out.  
"If they detach from their original... host? I don't know how they work, and that frustrates me to no end. Not enough to study one, of course--let alone _touch_ it, if I don't have to. Tweezers only, _that's_ for sure!"  
"Even if you aren't a dragon?" Esther asked.  
Her family exchanged a Look. As usual, it was Angel who broke the news to her.  
"Whether or not you Shift, you've still got the blood of a dragon in you. I think it responds to our blood. The only person in this room who could touch it would be Mike, but only if my theory is correct. I say again, _tweezers only_.  
"I don't know how you'll remove them without it bleeding, though. I don't even know what the _point_ of them is!"  
"What if they teleport to us, if they've got one?" Avi asked. "You've proven you can keep it from bleeding, and... doing whatever it is they do."  
Shelly sat up straighter. "Has anyone checked on Maisie? She _did_ bleed on hers."  
Both parents lunged for their phones at the same time, but Avi's was closer. After some rapid typing, he relaxed in his chair.  
"If anything, she's better." His phone dinged again. "Less grumpy, she says." He looked up. "Do they make the kids more irritable, or is it just the pain that does it?"  
Angel looked to the only one in the room who would know. "What do you think? Was it the pain, or could there have been a compulsion on the rock?"  
Kapa snorted. "If it'd been controlling my emotions, wouldn't that be evil?"  
She thought for a while, as they all did. None of them knew. It was a grey area, which was one of Angel's weaknesses. She could handle black and white issues, but undefined things bothered her. Without solid ground to take a stand on, she was floundering in a quagmire of uncertainty.  
They were spared the ethical debate when three hatchlings and their Bonded humans appeared in the living room. Kapa knew they were coming, though he hadn't had time to tell the adults.   
Angel Felt them... It was like a knock at the door, but the "door" was her barrier. She pictured opening the door for her charges, and no one else. The same evil stripping properties applied to the doorway, of course.  
Those who had her in their line of sight looked around when her hand traced a rectangle in the air. Those who didn't were startled when they heard Kevin and Scott gasping for air.  
Mitch calmly sauntered into the kitchen with Whiskers (or Hogo-Sha, if he'd ever remember it) on his shoulder. Scott and Kevin would've followed, except Angel suggested they adjourn to a room that didn't primarily serve as a place to eat.  
The Kaplans followed Angel and Mitchi into the living room. Scott and Kevin gratefully sat down, being less accustomed to teleportation than Mitch was.  
Angel was startled into a chuckle when she took her son's weight from Mitch's shoulders. _:Why am I not surprised?:_ she thought at him. He was a new telepathic recipient, so she didn't elaborate until she saw his eyes widen slightly. She didn't want to accidentally give away his secret, if she'd said that to her husband, or mother-in-law. She was still getting used to telepathy without a Bond to direct it.  
 _:Your wings are gorgeous.:_  
She examined her son's feet, quite as though she hadn't startled one of the fey. She wouldn't risk offending a pixie, or a friend of her husband's, by dwelling on something she should've noticed sooner. She purposely focused on the sickening stone between her son's toes, instead of the wings that had peeked out when she took her son from Mitchi's shoulder. Well, that is to say that she held out her arms, and he stepped into them.  
As with Maisie, the inky stone was lodged firmly in his flesh, requiring a blood sacrifice to remove. Unlike hers, this one wasn't quite as deep. She let a few tears of frustration fall onto a talon that she flicked out.  
"I'll make it quick," she promised. Before he could say "okay", it was in the grip of the tweezers. Not a speck of precious blood touched it. She was getting better at Healing wounds as she made them. The possibilities for torture were quickly shoved to the deepest, darkest, least occupied corner of her mind.  
She dropped the stone into the same jar that had briefly held Kapa's, filled with fresh hydrogen peroxide. Esther nodded and closed the lid loosely, until the other two joined it. Both were on the paws somewhere.   
Angel was fairly certain that Kapa had tried to chew his out before it embedded, and it latched onto his gums instead. She wouldn't say as much, though. It might dent his pride, somehow. One never knew, with him.  
"What I don't understand is, how did they even get in their toes?" Kevin asked. "I don't know about y'all, but Quincy hardly ever walks anywhere. She mostly rides on my shoulder, or flies."  
Scott and Mitch nodded. "Bubbles hardly stays still--sorry, Musume. When I think about how you act, well, you're very bubbly."  
The tiny green dragonet pretended to frown, but no one was buying it.  
"I just don't know when you'd stand still long enough to step on a rock, is what I meant."  
"Do any of you remember when it happened?" Their mother asked.  
The girls shook their heads, but Whiskers was frowning. "Maybe?"  
All eyes turned to him.  
"As in there might be a memory erasing component, or you're not sure?"  
His amber eyes narrowed. "The first one, I think. It was this morning--"  
"So maybe the forget hasn't--" Mitch elbowed Scott in the side.  
"And there it goes," Whiskers growled.  
Kapa glared at Scott. His mother was more practical. She asked where they'd been that morning, had him recount it, step by step.  
"...And then we left Starbucks--wait. Something brushed against my leg. Remember? I thought it was a dog, but there wasn't one nearby."  
Mitch was nodding. "And I said it was probably your imagination."  
Something lurked in the back of his eyes. Something he didn't want to talk about. Angel asked if she could pick his brain, in the kitchen. "You had an outside view of it. Maybe I can, I dunno, use magic to see what you saw?"  
She shot her husband a Look. _:Don't worry, I don't think I'll actually have to use magic. I think he knows something he's not telling.:_ _  
_She saw him squint at his mother and guessed he was passing on her message.  
"Magic? Oh come _on,_ do we have to--"  
_"Mitch, please_ ," she scowled. "These are my children, and someone is attacking them." She made her most fierce Mom Face at him. He subsided, very reluctantly.  
Whiskers got up when they did. After a brief internal debate, she let him. Mitch continued through the kitchen and out the door, which didn't surprise her.  
When they were a ways away from the house, he said without preamble, "So, you know."


	16. Pixie Memories

Angel laughed. "I'm a dragon. Celestial, at that. I suspect I always knew, though I can't remember anything before the coma."  
He stopped so abruptly, her son had to scramble to stay on his shoulder. "You knew, and you didn't tell anyone?"  
She shrugged, which elicited the usual reaction to her cat-like body roll. "'Tis not my secret to tell. Though, now that you know I know, have you told Scott?"  
His eyes bulged out. He spluttered for a few seconds. "And just _how_ do you propose I tell my best friend that I'm not human?"  
Angel looked him right in the eye, cracked her neck side to side, and, in full view of the house, popped her wings out.  
"My daughter, _a dragon,_ watches his back 24/7. My son watches yours. I think he can handle it. But," she continued calmly, "as I said, 'tis not my secret to tell. What I want to know is what you saw. What you're not telling _me_. I'm sure you know that I'll believe whatever it is, and not question how you know it. That's why you didn't say anything, right?"  
"Yyyyeah... Pixie vision, you could call it. That's how I Saw you, before you turned into a dragon egg."  
His shoulders rolled in an all too familiar way. Angel walked around him, so her wings blocked him from the house. He caught on quickly, released his wings from their ethereal bindings with a sigh of gratitude.  
"I know the ache well, kiddo. Even though most people can't see them, they're there, begging to be freed."  
"Kiddo?" he asked, brows raised.  
"Hey, biologically speaking, I'm old enough to be your mother. Maybe not by societal standards, but yes, _kiddo_. So, what'd you see?"  
The frown lines didn't leave his brow, but he told her what she needed to know. She made vague arm motions as he spoke, which would give the humans in the house the impression that she was casting a spell. He thought it was highly amusing; to the point that he surreptitiously added some sparkles to the air around them. They had a hard time hiding the giggles, but she got the information without using magic.   
She communicated the illusion to her husband and mother-in-law, so they wouldn't fret about the babies, but her father-in-law would have to wait.  
They came back in the house, their wings reluctantly hidden once more. Angel resolved to have them out and free whenever she could, once she was no longer carrying fetuses that would mirror her physique when they were born. Triplets would be difficult enough, _without_ adding wings to the mix!  
Scott, Kevin, and their Bonded dragons, were looking at her with wide eyes, but no one commented on her feather-scales. _:Oh good, the distraction worked. Nobody's gonna wonder why we went outside for that,:_ she said smugly.  
"What we're looking for might be on anyone we come across. Could be a dog, a stranger, or ourselves."  
She waited for the exclamations to die down before telling them what they thought she Saw with magic. "They get into your shoe, but that's not flesh. Maybe they're programmed to seek out dragon flesh specifically, I don't know. What I do know is, they migrate up your leg--thank God you were wearing pants this morning--and up to their intended target. Dragons don't wear shoes, or clothes of any sort. We're vulnerable. Well, maybe not me, but only with my scales, I think. I just don't know.  
"I would suggest dressing the kids in clothing, _except_ " she glared at the boys extra hard "clothing would draw attention to them. Their passive perception filters wouldn't work. Unless any of the kids can _actively_ camouflage themselves as an animal, that won't work."  
"That'd be Maisie," Avi told her. They were both briefly saddened by the fact that she didn't remember that.  
"Hey, we're nearly there," Percy said. Musume nodded enthusiastically.  
Kapa scowled at his siblings. "Speak for yourselves."  
"It's a useful skill," his mother scolded. "If you choose not to attempt it, you must be extra vigilant. These stones make me feel nauseous in their vicinity."  
She picked up the jar with its burdens and held it near him. He instantly recoiled from it. She grabbed a horn and yanked it closer.  
"Do you dislike the sight, or the Feeling of them? If you don't want to learn animal forms, you'll have to _learn_ what they Feel like."  
His lip lifted, but the snarl stayed behind his teeth. She let go of his horn, and he stretched out his neck toward the jar. The sneer magnified in direct proportion to his proximity to the stones. She didn't move it closer, leaving it up to him to work at his own speed. His eyes narrowed to green slits, nares wide.  
After a long, tense moment, he sat straight and sneezed. "I've got it now. One of those gets anywhere _near_ me, I'll..." He stopped, confused and angry. "What _do_ I do?"  
Angel quietly absorbed the moment when her defiant, head-strong son finally asked her for help. She made a thinking face, so he wouldn't know what she was feeling.  
"Okay, you'll all have to carry something to put these in. A pill bottle, mason jar, whatever you think you can keep on your person at all times. If anyone sees or Feels it, hover out of range and tell your Bonded where it is."  
"And what, keep tweezers on us too?" Scott asked.  
"Nah, you can use the lid and container to--okay, you know the maneuver you use for spiders? Like that. Just _don't_ touch it, _no matter what_. We still don't know what they do."  
Mitchi raised a hand. Angel nodded at him. "Isn't that something we should try to figure out?"  
Angel raised both hands and let them fall. "Unless you know somebody, I don't see how. I'm off magic duty for the next eight months, except in dire circumstances. Which reminds me, I'll need a moment with Scott and Kev before y'all leave."  
She made to turn toward the kitchen, when Mitch's voice stopped her: "Actually, I might know somebody."  
Everyone looked at him, but he didn't know how to casually drop the pixie bomb. Angel bailed him out, for which she would have his gratitude for quite some time.  
"What, an auntie who knows magic?" She winked at the younger people. "In my family, we've got two of those. Well, now we do." She shrugged, suddenly self-conscious.  
Mitchi happily seized her magic aunt theory. They gave him the jar of stones to bring to his _tia_ , while Angel had a chat with the taller boys. He pictured his aunt's place, so Whiskers could take them there. At his mother's reminder, he asked Mitch where they could appear without startling anyone.  
"The herb garden, of course. Here, it looks like this."


	17. Falling for Other Boys

When they were gone, Scott and Kevin turned toward Angel.  
"So, what's up?" Kevin asked.  
She countered with a question of her own. "Do you want to see what he looks like as a dragon?"  
Scott pouted extra hard. "Why'd you have to wait for Mitch to leave to do cool stuff?"  
The twinkle left her eyes. "I get the feeling you'll all see it at some point on tour. Look, I can't Shift except in _the most_ dire circumstances. Like an army or something." She nodded at her husband. "But he can. The problem is, even if he can Shift in time to protect us, he doesn't know how to fight.  
She held up a finger in the face of her children's objections. "I didn't say that I don't trust you. In fact, as you'll see, I need to trust the five of you now, more than ever. Come, I'll show you."  
Angel walked toward the door again. With the boys in tow, they noticed that she was barefoot.  
"Hey, don't you want to put some shoes on first?" Kevin asked.  
She turned toward them, hand on the knob. "I'm a Celestial Arch Dragon, or whatever it's called. The only one in existence, I might add. You think a few rocks and grass are going to hurt me? That's cute."  
Avi laughed, which confused the other two. "Come to think of it, you've been in and out of the house the whole time we've been here, and never had a problem."  
One brow quirked up. "Even the roof didn't do any damage. You were worried for nothing." She kissed his cheek. "But like I said, it's cute."  
She opened the door and motioned the boys through.   
"The roof?" Scott asked Kevin. KO just shrugged.  
"Do you want a chair, just in case?" Shelly asked.  
"Mm yeah, they might drop me out of sheer shock," she chuckled.  
"Did just you say I might _drop_ you?" Scott asked, just outside.  
The women laughed. "You'll see. Here, bring this out and set it on the grass, right about there."  
Thoroughly confused, Scotty set the chair where she indicated. She stood in front of it and held her arms out to her husband.  
Kevin hovered to one side, Scott on the other, not sure what they would need to do. Avi put his arms under hers, palms up.  
"Show off a little, will ya?" he asked.  
Her eyes sparkled merrily. "You know I will." She grabbed his arms, tattoos pressed to the skin of his inner arms, and promptly dropped into the chair.  
Kevin righted her when she slumped to one side, so he missed the transformation. It was that quick.   
A gorgeous green dragon pranced in a circle in front of them. When all eyes were on them, Angel executed a few quick kicks, tail slaps, and wing punches. To further show off, they leapt into the air (where she noted the reduced power in his leaner hind legs) and landed in the traditional superhero pose. When his foot, knee, and fist touched the ground, she sat up in the chair and sighed.  
He shook his head and slowly stood up. "That will never _not_ be weird."  
She leaned back in the chair. "Probably not. But it gets the job done."  
When the shock had worn off, Scott clapped his hands and cheered "Ooh, me next! Me next!"  
The Kaplan dragons looked at him with regret, and a bit of pity.  
"I'm sorry, Scott, I... I can only help him Shift. I can't make dragons, except the old-fashioned way." She unconsciously cradled her flat stomach.  
Kevin and Scott's eyes followed her hands.  
"Wait, are you--"  
"Didn't you just--"  
Her eyes widened. Avi's arm snaked round her waist to cradle their unborn children.  
"Gwynn says it's okay, Kev."  
_"This_ time," Shelly, Mike, and Angel said in unison.  
"Right, I know." He elaborated for Kevin's sake. "She said when the dragon Angel merged with the Angel in a coma, it was a clean slate."  
The big man's arms crossed over his swole chest. "Did you know that when y'all..?" he made vague hand gestures between them.  
The newlyweds blushed.  
Avi rubbed the back of his neck with the hand that wasn't on his wife's side. "I kinda... forgot about that."  
Kevin and Scott had the same reaction his family had, the first time he'd had to admit that, and his defense was the same. Neither of them looked convinced, though they did reluctantly admit that Angel was nothing like the dragon they'd known.  
"Anyway," Angel said, drawing out the word, "I may need you boys to catch me, if it comes down to a fight." She looked at her daughters in turn, and then her son. "As for my children, it will be up to you to protect _my_ body while I'm in _his_."  
Even Kapa blanched at the awesome responsibility she was laying at their feet. Three pairs of eyes stared back at her, wide and uncertain.  
"I know, it's a lot. But, to an extent, I should be able to help you out. I can't promise that I can keep everything away from the band, and my body, but I'll do my best."  
Bubbles trusted her mother. Kapa had seen what she could do, and had grudging respect for the dragoness. Quincy had tears in her eyes that she refused to let fall until later.  
"Should we practice catching?" she asked the boys. "You know, before I get any bigger?" She glanced down at her stomach ruefully.  
Kevin took a single step forward, picked up the chair, and handed it to Scott. He handed it to Mike, who took it inside.  
Angel stepped away from Avi. "I don't think we'll have to do the whole routine, you know, actually jumping into--"  
She dropped in a controlled fall, within easy arm's reach of Kevin. He caught her, but it was close. There was definitely a yelp, though she pretended not to hear it.  
She stood under her own power. "Thought so. Good reflexes, KO." She thumped his arm and took a step toward Scott.  
He reflexively stepped back, but she was relentless. She followed him, right up to the stairs. "Look, I know you don't want this responsibility, but we don't know when an attack might happen. You might be closer."  
He eyed her warily, afraid she'd pull the same stunt she did before; but she just stood there, hands on her hips. When he nodded, she took a few steps away from the hazard of the stairs. Scott was stronger than he looked, but not as strong as Kevin. She didn't know how good his reflexes were, so she'd take it easier on him.  
"Ready?"  
He held his arms out awkwardly. She dropped, just as fast as she had with Kevin, and he caught her. She took the time to remind him that he wouldn't always have warning, but she did praise his catching skills.  
"Once more, without your arms out?" When he hesitated, she reminded him as gently as she could that she needed to know she could trust him. He nodded again, with a little more confidence.  
She immediately buckled. Again, she was in control. If she hit the ground, it would be on her own terms. Fortunately, she didn't have to worry.  
Angel stood and slapped his arm with less force than she'd used on Kevin. "Much better. I'll try to warn you if I can, but if I don't have time, maybe my daughter can get your attention."  
She backed up to look her daughter in the eye. "You kids are the first line of defense. I don't know how good my senses are in this body, so I'll be counting on you to warn us in time. Think you can do that?"  
Musume nodded, eyes as large as oranges. "Yes, ma'am."  
Angel took a gamble and stroked the tiny head resting on the tall man's shoulder. "If you ever get in trouble, and mama and papa aren't around, I've warded your grandparents' place to heaven and back. This is a safe place, whenever you need it."  
She looked to the elder Kaplans for permission. "If that's okay with you, of course. If not, I can probably find time to Sanctify their homes."  
Shelly's hands instantly fisted on her hips. "Like _hell_ you will! _That's_ the magic she warned you about!" She set a hand on Kevin's shoulder and looked Scott in the eye. "You kids are welcome here, until she can _safely_ Sanctify your houses." Here, she aimed a Look at Angel that could've melted paint. "If you're in trouble, our home is yours."  
The boys thanked her, and Mike, and even the Kaplan siblings.  
"Well, that's all I needed, so... if you've got somewhere to be, don't let me stop you. Besides, the baby's waking up."  
They didn't want to leave until they'd had some time to fuss over the baby, but Kapa was more than happy to be gone. Unfortunately for him, he still hadn't gotten the hang of teleporting. He could ask Musume to 'port him, but his pride wouldn't let him. He stayed outside to inspect the warding, which got his siblings' attention, so the adults had some welcome relief from the near-constant weight of a hatchling on their shoulders.


	18. For the Dancing and the Dreaming

The adults had fun playing with the baby while her daddy ate a post-Shift slice of pizza, taking turns feeding her mushy broccoli. After a while, they drifted off to their everyday lives. There was a PR event that night that they needed to prepare for.   
As for Avi and Angel, she reminded him that they had something far more pressing to prepare for.  
"What, Shifting practice?"  
She shook her head. "This afternoon, we dance." She held a hand out to him, one leg pointed in front of her like a ballerina.  
"What?"  
She giggled. "You're the one who's insisting we do the dragon dance. Don't you want to learn it?"  
His mom was already enlisting his dad to move furniture around, so he had no choice but to gulp and nod. He'd been so enamored with the idea that he hadn't thought about his own role in it.  
Angel stood in front of him, feet flat again, with one arm extended toward him, her hand perpendicular to the floor. The other was behind her, higher than her head. Though her hands were small, with a few twisted fingers, they could look quite artistic; particularly when her wrist was angled just so.  
She waited, brows arched, until he emulated her pose.  
"We start out with hands back to back, remember? Back up a step, until your nails just touch mine."  
He did as she asked, though it was a touch cramped. The baby, on her grandmother's lap, watched the dance with rapt curiosity.  
"Step to the side, um..." she did the calculations in her head for a moment, "left foot first, so take three steps to the left. Good." She turned, swirling her arms as though she had long sleeves, until her left hand was held out, her right behind her. He waited until he saw what she'd done before attempting it.  
"Close. You'll get it when you see what the whole thing looks like." _:Especially if you remember the mating dance I taught you,:_ she chuckled. The twinkle in her eye didn't go unnoticed, though only he understood its cause.  
He did remember the mating dance, and it did help with the steps. They hadn't been quite so flamboyant with their wings, but this was a wedding dance. It was a far more controlled figure eight than they'd done out in the wild.  
"I haven't been running the song in my head, so I don't know when this'll come in, but when it gets to the stomps, we'll do this." She skipped the foot next to the one that was supposed to move to the side, so there was a little hop before the turn. _Skip, hop turn, stomp stomp,_ it went. Skip left foot, hop in the air with high knees, stomp left, right, clapping with both stomps, if that was the way they were turning. It was complicated, but she swore it would make sense with the music. She pictured the way her skirt would swirl, her sleeves float, as they skipped and turned.  
"Then why don't we have it playing?" he asked.  
"We can, _after_ you get the steps down."  
Fingernails, turn. Repeat on the other side. First knuckles, turn, repeat. Backs of the fingers, turn, repeat. Backs of the hands, turn, repeat. Wrist to wrist, turn, repeat. Wrist to forearm, turn, repeat. Fingertips to elbows, turn, repeat. After the second turn, her arms moved a bit higher, to make the turn to brush the inside of their forearms, one at a time. The last spin turn, she clasped his forearm, spun the other arm up and over to grab his.  
"Here is where the officiant would throw the sash over, hopefully with a bit of drama. Sort of like saddling a wild dragon."  
He was grinning ear to ear. "This is going to be _so cool!"_  
She chuckled. "Hopefully. Want to try with music? Then we can see where the stomp claps are."  
He leapt toward his phone, but his mom was already waiting with it queued up on hers. He kissed her cheek, and the baby's, and took his place across from his wife.  
They went through it a few times, faster and faster, until they could keep up with the song. Menolly thought it such fun, they had to do a run through where Daddy was holding her, and he passed her to Mommy on each turn.  
After that, they flopped onto the couch in happy exhaustion.  
Shelly let them have fifteen minutes to recover (while she sent family members the video of the last run through). Then she prodded their tired bodies outside for more Shifting practice.  
Angel wanted to stay inside with the baby, but she knew she had to be there in case the dragon took hold. As a compromise, and an added incentive to retain his human sensibilities, she brought their daughter out to watch her daddy turn into a dragon.  
Mike didn't think it was a good idea. He thought it would frighten her.  
Angel laughed. "She was there the first time he Shifted. She's seen me Shift, fight something I hope she couldn't see, and Change back. She's fine."  
"Wait, did you Shift _all the way?"_ Avi asked. "I thought you just had, I dunno, claws and long arms."  
She blanched. She'd forgotten that he hadn't known, and she couldn't lie.  
"I did, at first. But I had to get rid of the body..." She stared at the top of the baby's head. "The only way to do it without tainting the beach was..." she shrugged. "I had to eat it."  
The men turned green, but Shelly applauded her quick thinking. "Did you purify the scene?"  
The spark returned to her grey eyes. "'Course I did. I love the Great Lady too much to pollute her beach that way."  
Haunted hazel eyes swung toward her, though hers slid away, unable to look at his expression. "That's why you weren't hungry."  
She nodded at the red gold of their daughter's hair.  
"Why didn't you tell me?"  
She shrugged, the roll of her shoulders temporarily distracting the baby from her distress. "I dunno, I guess I didn't want you to see me like that. It can't be pretty, watching a dragon eat... one of _those things._ It was our first day alone, without nurses or anyone to chaperone." She looked up, as far as his chest. Her shoulders mantled over the baby unconsciously.   
"I was a shy... newlywed... who didn't know what you'd think of the real me, _whatever_ I looked like. Still wasn't sure what we were even doing." She huffed an almost laugh. "It's only been a few days, but it feels like it's been years. Funny how that works."  
He hugged his girls to his chest, there in the kitchen, in front of his parents. He kissed the top of her head. "I love you, just the way you are."  
She sniffed back the tears that threatened to break free. "That's still going to take some getting used to." She kissed his neck, enjoying the zing across their bond, and the tiniest shiver through his body.  
"I can be patient," he rumbled.  
"The sun cannot, my son. You can talk about this more later. For now, daylight waits for no man, or dragon."  
They broke apart, laughing self-consciously and wiping a few stray tears.  
Practice that evening was less tense. Partly because they'd just had an emotional moment, and partly because he was getting the hang of it. Despite their fears, the dragon didn't rise; perhaps because they'd just had a very _human_ moment.


	19. The Dress

The next day was spent much the same as the day before, though without visitors. He practiced Shifting after breakfast, to cut down on the calorie refuel rate. Then they danced a bit. He sang for some of the dancing, played the movie version for some. They didn't want to lip sync the wrong words, after all.  
No matter how much he coaxed and cajoled, he couldn't get her to sing her part. Her throat locked up tighter than Fort Knox, anxiety ratcheted into the rafters. He couldn't even get her to sing in the shower.  
"I only sing if nobody can hear me," she said. "Loud radio, concert, alone at home, that sort of thing."  
"But you're not bad. He said so, and that's what he does for a living. A few vocal lessons is all you'd need. His words, not mine."  
She just shook her head. "Maybe later, but... I'm really fragile right now, 'kay?" Wide green eyes stared up at him as the water ran down their bodies. "I know it doesn't show, but dancing in front of a crowd of people, even _looking_ like I'm singing... In front of that many people... Give me Shakespeare, give me any other play, a movie, a TV show, _anything_ but singing and dancing." Her hands slapped his chest lightly for emphasis as she listed the things she'd rather be doing in public.  
He put his hands over hers. "You'd really rather be on national television than dance and sing?"  
"In a heartbeat," she said without pause. "I can hear what I'm supposed to be singing, you know. I can feel the beat, but... sometimes my body doesn't do what I tell it to. Do you know how _frustrating_ it is, to feel the rhythm in your bones, but the muscles are tone deaf?"  
He pried open her fists, before they could remove any more chest hair, put them on his shoulders. "You're stuck in your old body, but only up here." He tapped her temple. "This one is stronger. You've stopped _moving cars._ How do you know you still can't do any of the things you want?"  
Her mouth opened and closed, at a loss. What was she supposed to do with the hope he'd just dropped in her lap? Experience told her to ignore such folly, but look where she was, and with whom. Momentarily overwhelmed, her forehead thudded against his collarbone. Tears melded with the warm water, though she didn't shake or wail.  
He put his arms around her and let her process what he said.  
  
She was still processing the next day. They practiced Shifting, the same as they had before, but the rest of the day was dedicated to setting up the yard and house. They did what they could in advance, because they were planning on an afternoon wedding.   
The outfits arrived with one of Shelly's cousins. Once the arch was planted in the ground, and the porch was decorated, they had to go try on the ancient garments.  
Avi fit in his grandfather's tails quite well, but Angel was wider in the ribcage than his grandmother was. Her shoulders were also broader, but the dress didn't cover them, so all they had to worry about was letting out the seams in the bodice of a dress older than the elder dragoness.  
"Maybe I don't have to breathe," Angel joked.  
"Maybe someone still knows one of the fey," Shelly countered. "If they were willing to preserve the dress, maybe they'd... I don't know, stretch the fabric a little?"  
Her cousin fetched some honey and milk from the kitchen, though there was precious little, and vanished outside. Not without a scolding for letting the larder get so bare, but what could they do about it?  
One of her nieces reminded them that they could order groceries online for delivery. Shelly asked Avi to do that while Angel helped the kitchen volunteers, safely out of her dress. They didn't tell him about the dress, because they didn't know if it was irreparable yet. Best not to worry him until they knew for sure.  
"So, what are you planning on doing for shoes?" Shelly asked.  
Angel's lips lifted into a fey wisp of a smile. "Did you see any in the sketch?" Her head drifted side to side. "I thought I'd wear one of those things that goes over your longest toe, behind the heel. You know, the beaded things that look sort of hippie?" She traced a line across her foot, from the base of her toes to her ankle. "They look like flip flops, without a sole. Do you remember those?"  
The youngster who'd mentioned online shopping snapped her fingers. "Yeah, I bought some at a music festival once!" She flipped through the pictures on her phone until she found the photo she wanted, and showed her aunt.  
"Oh gracious, I haven't seen those in _ages!"  
_"Couldn't we make a pair? Shouldn't be too hard, right? It's only got to last a day. We could, I dunno, cut an elastic headband and bead it?"  
His cousin flapped her hand. "Nah, I can run home and grab mine. I only wear 'em to festivals. They're in pretty good shape."  
Angel looked at the photo more closely. "Yeah, those should work pretty well. Thanks!"  
She hugged the shorter woman. "You want the flower crown too? I've also got one of those tattoo choker things, if you wanna borrow it."  
Angel laughed. "Maybe the crown, but I dunno about the choker. Does it go with the vibe?" she asked Shelly.  
Her mother-in-law bailed her out, which is what she'd hoped for. "Hmm, not really. We're not going for a hippie, we're going for a dragon."  
 _:Thanks for that.:  
_Shelly just winked where the youngster couldn't see.  
"Oh, we're doing dragons? I don't think I've ever seen a dragon wedding."  
The older women just smiled.  
Shelly's cousin came back an hour later with a dress that looked the same as it had before. She didn't say a word. She jerked her head toward the bedroom, and they followed.  
Angel carefully maneuvered into the priceless heirloom, heart beating an erratic staccato. Her arms slipped through the wide sleeves easily enough, but it was the bodice they were worried about. The other three women held their breath with her as she eased the dress over her shoulders, which was where she finally dared to breathe. The first time, she'd had to nearly dislocate her arms to avoid tearing the sleeves from their tenuous moorings, or rip the seams down the side. This time, the dress floated over her as easily as water. She was able to tug it past her bosom, where she couldn't before. It ghosted over her hips, to drift around her ankles.  
A collective sigh gusted through the room.  
 _"Much_ better!" cried the three who'd been there the first time. The youngest girl in the room had stars in her eyes. Her aunts knew she would be begging to wear the dress when she was older. A knowing look passed among her relatives, metaphorically over her head. She was taller than Angel, as most people were.  
Angel moved her arms, did a tiny pirouette, to be certain of the fit. If she couldn't dance in it, this would all have been for naught.  
"I've been assured that the alterations will hold up for years to come," Shelly's cousin smirked.  
Angel let out a happy squeak and hopped in place, quite uncertain what to do with all of the happiness that just exploded within her. For those who could see it, her eyes glowed brightly.  
Shelly hugged her, asked _:You don't know what to do with the good emotions either, do you?:  
_Angel sniffled into her shoulder. _:Not a clue.:  
_"Oh, sweetie," she said aloud, drawing back. "You'll have _so much_ happiness ahead of you."  
Angel wiped her eyes. "I know. It's just so _overwhelming_. I'm not used to... it sounds silly, but... I'm getting everything I ever wanted, in what feels like an instant, and I don't know what to do with that."   
She started pacing, the lovely mermaid train swirling around her feet when she turned. "When all you've known is either strife or... I used to call it the doldrums, because nothing happened, good or bad. I just... _existed_ , wondering what my purpose was. And then, I wake up with a baby, and your son right there, and... the way he was looking at me... I'm sorry, this is all _wonderful_ , but it's a _lot_ to take in, like that." She snapped, which seemed to remind her that she was wearing The Dress.  
"I should take this off. We've still got things to do, and I don't want him to see me in it before tomorrow."  
She turned away to lift it over her head. She was fairly comfortable disrobing among women, but modesty was ingrained in her. She didn't want to put the shirt and shorts back on, but she couldn't rationalize wearing the dress any longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've no clue what his extended family is like, so please excuse the artistic license with cousins and nieces. I did try to be vague, just in case...


End file.
